It's a Small (Frame) World: Short-Corridor PALs
COVER STORY
It's a Small (Frame) World:
Short-Corridor
PALsSmaller
frames boost demand for short-corridor lenses, drive profits for retailers,
ECPsPhoto:
robert gerhardt Frames, clockwise from top right: Hart Specialties/Coleman 8137,
Viva/Gant Women Mia, Charmant/Club Blue 14608, Luxottica/Versus, Avalon/Norma
Kamali 7233By Seth J.
BookeyContributing
EditorNEW YORK--Small
continues to be very big in optical. The still-hot fashion trend for
smaller-sized ophthalmic frames is continuing to
grow. For younger
adult, single-vision eyeglass wearers, small frames are still cool. For
Baby-Boomers--in particular emerging presbyopes--the contemporary look of small
frames is fueling the growth of short-corridor progressive
lenses.ECPs, retailers,
optical labs and lens manufacturers tell Vision Monday that their sales are
either level with or higher than last year’s numbers, accounting for as
much as 50 percent of ophthalmic frame sales on average, a trend which is also
strong across the market’s price
points.Jobson’s FRAMES
Data database underscores the big impact of small-size frames across the U.S. In
1999, only 2.5 percent of new frame styles’ B measurements were less than
30 millimeters. But last year, 52 percent of new frame styles intros’ B
measurements were less than 30 millimeters and for 2005, of the 6,785 styles
introduced this year, some 63 percent fall into this
category.Further, according to
the “L&T 2005 Premium Lens Study of Eyecare Professionals” (in
the May 2005 issue of 20/20), 45 percent of retailers surveyed said that
short-corridor PALs were a significant (50 percent or greater) percentage of
their progressive lens sales. This is up 13 percent over last year, when 40
percent said they were a significant percentage of sales. This year, another 40
percent said short-corridor PALs were a moderate (11 percent to 49 percent)
percentage of all progressive-lens sales. According to the survey, 86 percent of
retailers are offering more than one short-corridor PAL design to their clients.
Also, 79 percent of retailers dispense a higher number of short-corridor PALs to
women.Debbie Fink, vice
president of purchasing for D.O.C Optics of Southfield, Mich., told VM,
“Small frames are definitely growing in sales for us. There’s not
just one type of customer who buys them--everyone wants the new, cooler, smaller
frames, no matter what their age. The small sizes are much more of a fashion
trend for ophthalmic frames, though. In sunwear, most customers want big styles:
‘windshields’ for the
face.”Small frames now
represent about 70 percent of D.O.C’s total ophthalmic inventory. The
stores don’t put any kind of tag on them indicating they can take PALs.
“It’s up to the dispenser to let the customer know that,” she
said.“It’s
actually getting harder to find larger frames that look good on a consumer who
wants an edgier style--those people are all moving toward the small frames, and
that is being reflected in the number of lens suppliers who are starting to
offer short-corridor progressives to fit into them,” Fink
noted.Starting Jan. 1, 2006,
Fink said D.O.C will be testing a new 14-mm progressive in its 17 SEE
stores.Judy Sulier, a
certified optician working for Bob Layman, OD, in Lambertville, Mich., sees
about 30 percent to 35 percent of the practice’s PALs selling in
short-corridor. “That is up from last year, because there’s more
product available now. We’re stocking a lot of smaller frames as well,
since that seems to be what people want. First-time presbyopes want to be
fashionable.” Sulier also noted that the practice does a lot of sales of
photochromic products, and when short-corridor PALs come in Transitions, they do
well also.While in fashion
plano sunwear, the current fashion-forward trend is towards super-large sizes
and shapes, for Rx eyewear, most customers are being drawn to the new, smaller
shapes, particularly those who are coping with the onset of
presbyopia. “If
someone is updating their wardrobe, their eyewear has to look proportioned to a
modern image, and smaller-size ophthalmic frames are seen as modern
today,” observed David Duralde, VP of creative direction for Louisville,
Ky-based Kenmark Group.Duralde
also said, “A new wearer wants to start with something that looks smaller
and more contemporary. Deep-fit eye styles only remind them they’re in a
new phase of life, so a short-corridor frame and lens helps this age transition
be a little less traumatic. Psychologically, it gets them into new eyewear when
they can read better and function better in their lives. Over time,
they’ll then be ready to explore other fashion
looks.”He adds,
“Frame designers keep reinterpreting the proportion of
‘small,’ using new materials, colors and techniques to
update the look. Embellishments, details and color are keeping the look
fresh.”PAL
Options ExpandToday’s many
lens offerings in the category also offer patients and dispensers a range of
options. Since the introduction of SOLA’s AO Compact in 1999, the
short-corridor category, a technological response to a fashion demand, has grown
to include a wide range of powers and base curves, as well as a variety of
materials. Along with satisfying consumer demand for fashionable smaller frames,
the lenses now come in a variety of high-index materials, Trivex, and
polycarbonate, and feature photochromic options as well. Lens manufacturers
constantly work on PAL designs as well, to deliver the best possible optics to
all presbyopes who want smaller frames. Finding the right lens for a particular
patient’s optical needs is mostly a matter of making sure ECPs are kept
informed on the latest short-corridor
designs.Debbie Thomas,
director of merchandising for the 380-store Eye Care Centers of America,
headquartered in San Antonio, said, “The smaller frames certainly give the
consumer more options, and the availability of short-corridor lens designs has
opened up frames that previously could take only single-vision lenses to
accepting PALs. Small frames are definitely growing for us, both in terms of
sales and in share of our inventory. They are an important part of our frame
mix.”Thomas noted,
“We recently started identifying all the small frames on the board that
are suitable for short-corridor PALs, which we consider to be those up to 25 mm.
Each of those frames gests a tag that said ‘SC,’ the dispenser
explains to the customer that that means. We started putting those tags on the
frames a few months ago. We found that the smaller frames appeal to the emerging
presbyopes and Baby Boomer customers. If they have to transition from contact
lenses to glasses, they want the smaller
frames.”Will Benton,
brand manager for lens-manufacturer Carl Zeiss Vision, told VM that
“Short-corridor is maturing. The short-corridor lens has been in a
nebulous phase because there were such small differences between similar
progressives and a true short-corridor product. We’re now seeing a
proliferation of these lenses, with fitting heights getting lower and
lower.”Pete Hanlin,
Essilor’s training and development manager, noted that the company’s
recently introduced Varilux Ellipse short-corridor product has been either
selling “above forecast,” he said, “or, the short-corridor
market is even bigger than we
thought.”Barbara Piels,
sales representative for Optima, said that her company’s new
short-corridor product, Resolution Reˇsponse, was introduced in January.
“Considering its recent introduction, it is selling very well,” she
said.Carmen Renschler, vice
president of sales for Shamir Insight, told VM that “even though frame
manufacturers are going larger with frame styles, people still want
short-corridor products [in small-size
frames].”At Signet
Armorlite, marketing manager Jan Kubiak said that half of the company’s
PAL sales for the past few years have been in its short-corridor Kodak Concise
product, adding that consumer demand for smaller frames and smaller lenses
“has been a big part of
it.”David Cormanick,
sales representative for Excelite, also noted that “because of the smaller
frames, there’s been a lot of emphasis on short-corridor. If you look at
how lens companies advertise progressives, you see the short-corridor products.
It’s a matter of supply and demand, and doctors and labs are hungry for
short-corridor.” Cormanick noted that while the company’s X-PRO
Minuo in Trivex has only been available for about a month, but there’s
been good response to the product. “When I tell people we have a
progressive, they immediately ask about
short-corridor.”At
Polycore Optical USA, “A short-corridor progressive, Micro works in
smaller frames and also in some standard-sized frames, which is part of why
sales have been so strong in the Micro,” said customer relations manager
Ann Shanley.More Than
a FadThe continuing popularity
of short-corridor PALs with patients, ECPs, and labs proves that the category is
more than just a short-term trend and one that has evolved into a consistent
business performer.At
wholesale optical lab Winchester Optical, headquartered in Elmira, N.Y.,
short-corridor PALs are “still on a slight increase and are very, very
popular,” said Brian Lynch, vice president of Winchester, adding.
“Up here, small frames are still coming in and drilled frames are still
popular.” While sales of short-corridor rimless styles are leveling off,
Lynch said they are still popular as
well.Jeff Szymanski, sales
manager at wholesale optical lab Toledo Optical, said that the lab is seeing
positive growth in the category, “upwards of 10 percent, about the same as
last year, and maybe a bit more. Every time a lens manufacturer comes out with a
lower seg height, customers want even lower seg height.” Toledo Optical
educates ECP clients with seminars, and short-corridor is in the top
five-most-requested
category.” At the
ophthalmic practice of Associated Eyecare, and its affiliated retail channel
Optical Illusion in Toledo, Ohio, Ron Matuszewski, office manager, noted that
“we do 100 to 110 PALs a month, and 35 percent to 38 percent of that is
short-corridor in fashion frames. Last year, it was more like 25 percent of all
progressives.” He also noted that more 60- to 65-year-old customers are
getting into smaller PALs and enjoying
them.Even for optical
retailers for whom short-corridor represents a small portion of their business,
there has been growth in the category. John Morley of the three-store Voorthuis
Opticians in Washington, D.C., noted that 6 percent of his PAL sales are
short-corridor designs. “Compared to a year ago, it has increased about 10
percent,” Morley said. “Early presbyopes are the customers looking
at smaller frames. The trend is still the small
frame.”Bud Seymour, lab
manager for Great Lakes Eye Care in St. Joseph, Mich., noted that short-corridor
sales have increased along with the newer product introductions made last year.
While he finds that short-corridor is often dispensed to accompany the desired
smaller frame styles by new presbyopes wanting narrow B measurements, the ECP
chooses from the newest short-corridor designs available when “we see few
non-adapts.”He said that
while they do warn patients that some of their vision might be compromised,
“Most people seem okay with that,” he
said.Fitting Advice
for ECPsA key to fitting
patients with the short-corridor product that’s right for them is
education. ECPs need to make clients aware of all the advantages and
disadvantages of new lenses, and the ECPs in turn receive lens education from a
variety of sources.Sulier, of
Bob Layman, OD, said, “We’re getting information from labs and the
magazines--from all directions. Lab and lens reps call on us all the time.
Matuszewski, at Optical Illusion, gets a lot of POP from the lens manufacturers
directly. Pam Lamberson of Vision Care Associates noted, “They are
marketing these lenses with education, which is great, because that helps us a
lot. The lens manufacturers come in with the product and show us which numbers
to watch for in terms of
fitting.”Toledo
Optical’s Szymanski noted that “We have to educate ECPs on how to
use different lens products for different situations. We do a lot of in-office
seminars, We have a one-hour seminar on short-corridor since every lens
manufacturer has this now in their
arsenal.”Kim Schuy,
Varilux brand manager for Essilor, noted that the company’s marketing
materials for the Varilux Ellipse short-corridor lens combines fitting advice
along with lifestyle dispensing information. “We want to reassure patients
that they are not sacrificing on their vision, while discussing the benefits of
the lens.” Essilor provides ECPs with a leave-behind fitting
tool.Shamir Insight’s
chief operating officer, Raanan Naftalovich, told VM that the company does close
to 1,000 seminars per year at ECPs’ offices and in optical labs, and that
many of them are on short-corridor fittings. Naftalovich stresses the importance
of explaining a lens’s design features to
dispensers.Polycore Optical
USA’s Shanley noted, “Our training is intended to give ECPs the
confidence to recommend certain premium products to patients, including
progressive, photochromic and polarized lenses. This training includes technical
fitting advice, but also includes other selling
topics.”Cathy
Ciccolella, Andrew Karp and Marge Axelrad contributed to this
story.Volume Number: 19:14
Issue: 12/19/2005
Posted: Mon - December
19, 2005 at 01:22 AM
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Published On: Jun 20, 2009 07:04 PM
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