ORLANDO, Fla.—Transitions Optical honored eye-care practices, national retailers and individual eyecare professionals with its 2018 Transitions Innovation Awards during a recognition ceremony held here last month at the conclusion of the annual Transitions Academy.

Drew Smith, director, North America Channels, Transitions Optical, served as host and emcee of the gala event. Among the retail organizations receiving Innovation Awards were National Vision Holdings, parent of America’s Best and Eyeglass World, and Costco Optical, which was honored as the Canadian Retailer of the Year.

National Vision received the award for U.S. Retailer of the Year. “We applaud National Vision’s unique solutions to educate patients and staff about the value of Transitions lenses through brand new point-of-sale tools and incentives,” Smith said in presenting the award. “National Vision truly put their best foot forward this past year with targeted sales contests, quarterly training materials and Transitions lens messaging across various channels.”

Paul Amico, sales and merchandise director at National Vision, accepted the award on behalf of the retailer at Transitions Academy. “The most impactful thing Transitions can do for National Vision is to continue to find ways to drive traffic into our stores and continue to create loyal customers, and this year we’ve been able to achieve that through a year-long effort,” Amico said. “We’re really proud of the accomplishments we’ve made with Transitions and look forward to continued success in 2019.”

U.S. Retailer of the Year finalists included Costco Wholesale and Henry Ford OptimEyes of Detroit.

Transitions Optical honored Costco Optical with the 2018 Canadian Retailer of the Year title. “Not only did Costco Optical create numerous unique training materials in order to educate their staff on the benefits of Transitions lenses, but they also set a new benchmark in their stores that exceeded the Canadian national average for the sale of Transitions lenses,” Smith said. “We congratulate Costco Optical for their continuous efforts to advocate for the Transitions brand, and proudly honor them as Canadian Retailer of the Year.”

Eugénie Robinson, optical assistant general merchandise manager at Costco Canada, accepted the award on behalf of the retailer. “This past year, we really targeted our messaging to patients by providing the information in an easy-to-digest way, which I think truly propelled us to the top,” Robinson said. “We are very excited to be accepting the award for Canadian Retailer of the Year and partnering with Transitions Optical in the future.”

The Canadian optical retailer Iris, a unit of New Look Vision Group, also was a finalist in the Canadian Retailer of the Year category.

Weaver Eye Associates of York, Pa., received the 2018 Eyecare Practice of the Year title, during the recognition ceremony.

“Weaver Eye Associates truly set the stage for this year’s success by investing in their staff education,” Smith noted. “From that point onward, Weaver Eye Associates continued to raise the bar in how they recommend and educate patients on Transitions lenses, and we applaud them for earning this honor.”

Dr. Stephanie Riggi, clinical director at Weaver Eye Associates, accepted the award on behalf of the practice. “Once our doctors began prescribing instead of recommending, we found more success because we were educating patients on the need for Transitions lenses and not trying to sell them on just the want,” Dr. Riggi said. “This shift in attitude really allowed our staff to adopt a new perspective toward eye health. We are very excited to be accepting this award and are optimistic about our future with the Transitions brand.”

Eyecare Practice of the Year finalists included Napoleon Family Vision of Napoleon, Ohio, and Nicola Eye Care of Kamloops, British Columbia.

Professional Eyecare Associates of America (PECAA) received the 2018 Best in Training award.

“Professional Eyecare Associates of America embraced their learnings from Transitions Academy in 2018 by providing all the resources their members needed to best recommend Transitions lenses,” Smith said. “With in-person training events and ongoing virtual education, PECAA has truly impressed us with their commitment to training their members on the benefits of Transitions lenses.”

Lance Anderson OD, one of PECAA’s co-founders, accepted the award on behalf of the doctors’ alliance group. “We’re proud to see how our group has grown by over 8 percent in Transitions lens sales in 2018,” Anderson said. “It speaks to the impact that a focus on training and education can have across our organization. We are so happy to accept this award for our training efforts this year and look forward to continuing those efforts in the future.”

Recognized as finalists in the Best in Training category were the Canadian retailer Iris and Professional VisionCare of Columbus, Ohio, which were recognized for their commitment to providing education in photochromic lenses and the Transitions brand.

Transitions Optical honored Sheena Taff, optician at Roberts & Brown Opticians of Vancouver, with the 2018 Best in Marketing title.

“Sheena has taken the marketing of Transitions lenses at her practice to new levels with her creative social media campaigns,” Smith said. “She has excelled at encouraging her staff to broaden their horizons to include all the new Transitions Signature lenses style colors when recommending. As a Transitions Change Agent and leader with her digital marketing strategies, we congratulate Sheena on her well-earned achievements,” he added.

“I can see my enthusiasm for Transitions lenses both in the practice and in my personal life catching on with staff and peers, so I am incredibly excited to accept this award,” Taff said. “Both my team and I have taken the time to educate patients on the style and health benefits of Transitions lenses, and we are proud to receive this honor.”

Value Optical and Vision Source were recognized as finalists in the Best in Marketing category.

In the Brand Ambassador category, Transitions Optical honored Dr. Amanda Rights of Blue Ridge Vision in Boone, Boone, NC., with the Innovation Award during the recognition ceremony.

“This past year, Dr. Rights showed she was leading the conversation in the industry around Transitions lenses—whether it was through developing educational content for her website, OptomEyesLife, showing her passion for the brand on social media or contributing her knowledge to industry publications,” Smith said. “We congratulate Dr. Rights on her immense success in 2018 and look forward to seeing what she will do in 2019 and beyond.”

“I prescribe Transitions lenses because I have made a commitment to my patients to provide them with the best care possible—and I think this lens is a hassle-free way to ensure patients are getting the proper protection they need,” Dr. Rights said. “I’ve made it my goal to educate my practice and the industry on the benefits of Transitions lenses, and I am thrilled to be representing the brand as the 2018 Transitions Brand Ambassador.”

Brand Ambassador finalists included Sheena Taff of Roberts & Brown Opticians, and Justin Tenczar, director of optical operations at Berkshire Eye Center in Pittsfield, Mass.