Fresh eyes for retail

Ever tried on a pair of new glasses at the optometrist only to find a blurry version of yourself staring back? How about buying a pair of $300 sunglasses that don’t block the glare?

Eyewear retailer Luxottica, owner of brands such as OPSM, Sunglass Hut and Budget Eyewear, has introduced a retail concept aimed at avoiding eyewear disasters. At the OPSM Eye Hub, customers can try their glasses in all kinds of conditions, from a simulated bike ride (complete with wind) around Melbourne’s Albert Park Lake to taking a stroll around the Botanical Gardens.

The Eye Hub – a multimillion-dollar investment that has cost the company about the equivalent of setting up 10 big OPSM stores – is the first of three concept stores Luxottica plans to open in Australia in the next year. Designed by Apple store designers e2, it was three years in the making. “We asked our employees and our customers what they would want a store to be like if they could design it from scratch,” Luxottica Australasia, South-East Asia and South Africa chief executive Chris Beer says.

Customers are met by a stylist and optometrist who stays with them during their visit. They have access to a vast collection of designer frames ranging in price from $69 to $18,000. The store has interactive plasma screens that allow customers to record and view themselves in different styles, a children’s activity centre, and specialist aged-care facilities. “We want to make it more about the customer,” Beer says.

Jane Lindhe

BRW

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