Preliminary unaudited attendance figures for the conference and show, held Oct. 7 to 9, show a 9 percent increase in attendance from 2009, according to show organizers. A final complete third-party audit of the show will be available in approximately six weeks.
“The attendance figures from this year’s show are above our pre-recession attendance figures from International Vision Expo West 2008,” said Tom Loughran, vice president for Reed Exhibitions. “It’s a great statement of confidence for the optical industry as a whole that there was such a strong showing in Las Vegas.”
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Rob Lynch (l), VSP president and CEO, with Marchon’s VP of new business development Hannah Sarbin (c) and David Johnson (r), president of Marchon 3D, at the Marchon 3D booth. |
Over 450 exhibitors were present at the show throughout the exhibit hall, the Galleria and The Suites. In addition, a new show floor area was dedicated to the Optical Laboratories Association (OLA), which held its annual meeting in conjunction with the show for the first time, offering an expanded audience for exhibitors.
“We had more of just about everything at this year’s show,” said Loughran. “Not only was our attendance up, but we had 70 new exhibitors and 10,000 more net square feet of booth space on the show floor. We had over 400 show specials, over 30 industry groups partnering and co-locating with the show and 66 new continuing education courses.”
Retailers agreed that business is bouncing back. “Our business overall has been good—we were above last year through August, though September was a little soft. But all in all, I can’t complain; it’s been a good year,” said Diana Hall, president, Bard Optical, Peoria, Ill.
“Last year, Expo attendees had more of a “Woe is me” attitude about the economy, and business was off. Now we’re beyond that emotional stage, and people are dealing with the situation and modifying their buying habits to better position themselves,” said Shirley Wanamaker, vice president, operations, Sunland Optical
Cleve Barham, owner of Fine Eyes, an optical boutique in Ridgeland, Miss., said he is expanding his product selection. “I came out here to buy in the current collections I already carry, but I’m actually bringing in a new line, Seraphin. It’s a little edgy, but I think it is conservative enough to sell in my market. I told myself I wasn’t going to bring in anything new before I got here, but I’ve looked at it before and it is something I really wanted to have.”
Kelly Carter, vice president of merchandising and sales development, Eye Care Centers of America, San Antonio, told VM he and his staff came to the show in search of the right frames to support the lens initiatives in the company’s stores. “Our biggest focus at Expo West this year is finding progressive-friendly frames that look great on men and women who are 45 or 50 years old, not just 25-year-olds,” said Carter.
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Business was brisk at the Lenses and Processing Technology Pavilion (left) as well as on the show floor. |
“This year I've been investing in developing our store’s first website, which is still in development,” related Tom Hicks, owner/optician, Oxford Opticians, Oxford, Ohio. “In addition, I've been upgrading our frame inventory to move more toward the high end, so I can create a niche market in my area. We've been lucky in terms of the recession because Oxford is a college town, and those college professors get paid no matter what, so we’re really not too impacted by the economy. My dollar sales are actually up this year, although my unit sales are down a little.”
“In the intermountain West, we still see signs of the recession, while job growth grew slightly, and unemployment in Utah is less than the national average,” said Aaron Schubach, vice president/COO, Standard Optical and Opticare of Utah. “We are still growing top line sales by 6 percent over an 11 percent growth year in 2009. We have made a concerted effort to increase our market presence with additional recourses allocated to TV, direct mail and HTML/email campaigns. We’ve learned to operate leaner, with less people and we will likely not replace those positions when the economy does rebound. Standard Optical has made significant investments in electronic media—SoloHealth Eye-Site Kiosks for which we have 14, e-mail campaigns, Yelp! and other social media as well as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing). We believe, and history has shown, that market share is built in down economies.”
Betty Green of Dr. Grant OD in Henderson, Nev., a first-time Vision Expo West attendee, said she was excited by the array of frames she saw. “I’m shocked by how many products there are and how their guarantees and warranties are standard,” said Green. “The standard frames are just amazing. I’m pretty much blown away. I just came to get an overview and I’m really impressed.”
Ruth Wilson, Wilson & Wilson Optical, Jacksonville, Fla., liked the show because of its “intimate feel,” adding, “Less people travel out to Vegas than to New York, which still feels very international, this feels a bit more regional and you can really take the time to see things. I actually wish there were more accessory brands here, so I could stock up going into the holidays.”
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Co-Founders of Ooh la-la de Paris Eyewear Dr. Jeff Northcutt (l) and Dr. Raul Arencibia (r) flank Randy Kazandy author
Rhonda Fischer. |
“Our high-end frames don’t move as quickly as they used to. But that’s OK, it’s time to freshen up and bring in some new stuff,” added Yvonne M. Kwapis, OD, I Care Vision Center, Freeland, Mich. “There are a lot of lower-end lines here that have stepped up and have a lot nicer quality
these days.”
“I’m interested in pre-examination equipment,” noted Dennis Neely, OD, Advanced Eyecre, Odessa, Texas. “In particular, anything that can make the pre-test procedures such as corneal topotraphy, tonometry and auto refraction a little more accurate and convenient. We want to streamline these procedures and integrate them with patients’ electronic
medical records.”
Exhibitors were also enthusiastic. Jeremy Goldstein of Pro Design Eyewear in San Francisco, Calif., said, “We’ve seen a lot of new faces and had a chance to connect with people that we’ve known. The first day was a little slower, and the second day was pretty busy.”
“The show was fairly busy. It was well attended, as far as the people we do business with are concerned, which is the chains and big lab groups,” said Jeff Frumkin, president and CEO, EyeQ Eyewear. “Because OLA was also here it made it a little easier to have access to the labs. In fact, Friday was the most hectic day we’ve ever had at Vision Expo West.”
Joe Tallier, VP of global sales for Ogi, noted, “The folks who have come in are very happy and are increasing their inventory, which has been a bright spot compared to last year when people were more hunkered down and a little afraid to buy. We’ve found the people increasing their orders significantly. We’ve expanded the size of the booth significantly and we took a larger booth over at Scojo.”
“Business seems to be picking up,” commented Phil Cohen, VP sales and marketing, Eastern States Eyewear. “What ECPs are finding is when consumers walk in, they’re looking for something a little different, a niche. And if they don’t have anything new to show, the consumers walk out. So the ECPs have to refresh their inventory, and you’ve got to give them a reason to buy. Our new brand, Black Forever, fills a niche, and it did very well at the show.”
Bruce Mossman, Shamir Insight said, “This show has been very successful for us. We have experienced an increase in booth traffic and have received incredible feedback regarding our Freeform Certification program and iPad App. To receive the OLA Award of Excellence for Best in Lens Design for Autograph II truly rounded out the show for us on a positive note,” he said.
Dick Russo, executive vice president, Safilo USA, observed, “The retailers we talked to at Vision Expo West seemed to be quite positive—they came to the show to see the latest designs and newest styles, and this year’s show actually seemed quite a bit more active than last year in terms of buying. Some retailers I talked with seemed cautious about their prospects, but a lot of them reported doing surprisingly healthy business so far in 2010, and although most would describe themselves as ‘cautiously optimistic,’ they seemed positive about going forward
into 2011.”
“We are back at Vision Expo, as a signal of support,” said Andrea Dorigo, president of Luxottica Wholesale N.A. “Our customers are here, we’re here to talk with them, and lend support to the quality products and programs that will benefit them.” Added Luxottica’s Victor Melendez, VP marketing, “One of the big values to these events is education, which will be a growing part of what this industry is all about; We are supporting Visionomics to enable our accounts to be successful at their profession and in running their business; a successful business will enable doctors to do the best job of taking care of their patients.”
Tom Davies, Bespoke Eyewear, U.K., said “I thought East was astonishing but this has been even better. At East we saw many of our U.S. friends and clients that regularly visit the European Shows but the retailers in Vegas are so new to us. This “west” of the Mississippi thing now makes sense to me,” he said.
“We were quite pleased with our results as compared with the 2009 show. Although there is still a cautious undertone in the industry, it seems the worst is behind us and retailers are now looking for new and different lines which we feel bodes well for Jee Vice,” according to Christopher McDonald, the company’s CEO.
“Our show was excellent,” stated Peter Friedfeld, executive vice president, ClearVision Optical, adding, “We saw more activity in our booth, more customers and more prospects and we definitely saw a more positive attitude and customers more interested in purchasing than last year.”