It's a Small (Frame) World: Short-Corridor PALs
COVER STORY
It's a Small (Frame) World:
Short-Corridor
PALs
Smaller frames boost demand for short-corridor lenses, drive profits for retailers, ECPs
Photo: robert gerhardt Frames, clockwise from top right: Hart Specialties/Coleman 8137, Viva/Gant Women Mia, Charmant/Club Blue 14608, Luxottica/Versus, Avalon/Norma Kamali 7233
By Seth J. Bookey
Contributing Editor
NEW 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 Expand
Today’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 Fad
The 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 ECPs
A 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
Smaller frames boost demand for short-corridor lenses, drive profits for retailers, ECPs
Photo: robert gerhardt Frames, clockwise from top right: Hart Specialties/Coleman 8137, Viva/Gant Women Mia, Charmant/Club Blue 14608, Luxottica/Versus, Avalon/Norma Kamali 7233
By Seth J. Bookey
Contributing Editor
NEW 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 Expand
Today’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 Fad
The 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 ECPs
A 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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