Chromos Eyewear founder Daniel Childs looks on as a child receives free eyeglasses from his company’s non-profit arm, Chromos Cares.
PITTSBURGH—Continuing the family tradition, not only in eyewear but also in altruism, Daniel Childs has launched Chromos, a trifecta that consists of a line of eyewear, a store in the trendy Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh, and a give-back program that provides eyecare and eyewear to the area’s underserved children. The son of Norman Childs, who founded Eyetique, 3 Guys Optical and Norman Childs Eyewear, Daniel Childs is following his father’s example with the launch of Chromos as part of the Childs’ family of companies.
Chromos Eyewear
Already available for a couple of years now, the Chromos Eyewear line first launched with sunwear and then with a line of ophthalmic frames. Daniel Childs explained that the idea for the mid-priced sunglasses line resulted from discussions with other students while still studying marketing at Syracuse University.
They were looking for sunwear at a price point somewhere between the “$20 throwaways and $150,” he said, so he launched the Chromos Eyewear line of hand-cut acetate priced at $65 each. That was soon followed by an ophthalmic line at a slightly higher price point. In addition to being available at Eyetique and 3 Guys Optical locations as well as online, Chromos Eyewear will now be available at its first freestanding retail location opening this month in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood.
The first Chromos freestanding location opened this June
in Pittsburgh’s trendy Lawrenceville neighborhood.The First Chromos Retail Store
To reach a demographic consisting of college students, recent graduates, young professional adults, and socially conscious shoppers who would be most interested in the affordable Chromos Eyewear line and accompanying give-back program, Daniel Childs is opening the first Chromos retail location this month in Pittsburgh’s trendy Lawrenceville neighborhood.
Childs described the area as having “a lot of young professionals with a little bit of a hipster vibe, up and coming local restaurants, food trucks, art galleries and unique shops. We’re very excited to be part of Lawrenceville’s thriving business community. We feel our line is perfectly aligned for residents and visitors to Lawrenceville, as well as surrounding communities.”
The store will feature Chromos Eyewear exclusively, with ophthalmic frames selling at a rate of $95 across the board plus an additional $50 for single vision lenses and progressive addition lenses starting at a base of $200.
The large 1,500-square-foot facility will cater to the area’s character by dedicating only half its space to retail eyewear displays while reserving the other half to serve as an art gallery featuring local artists on a rotating basis. In addition, an attached courtyard will be used “for plenty of events throughout the summer,” said Childs, citing the potential for free yoga Sundays and movie nights.
To start, the staff will consist of an in-house optometrist up to three days per week, an optician and Daniel Childs himself.
He ultimately plans to add more stores in the future. “The goal is to expand as much as possible,” he said. “We’ll look in different college towns and in areas where there are a lot of young professionals.”
Every pair of Chromos sold will support the Chromos Cares initiative
by helping to provide free exams and glasses.
Chromos Cares Gives Back Locally
The give-back program has been in development for about ten months, Childs told dba. “We wanted to do something different and give back to the community,” he said, “so what better way than to do something I know.” So Chromos Cares, the non-profit arm of the business, was born. Every pair of Chromos sold will support the Chromos Cares initiative by helping to provide free exams and glasses.
For its first initiative, Chromos Cares partnered with Pittsburgh Public Schools and on Tuesday, May 26, 2015, gave away 23 pairs of eyeglasses to children who were screened and pre-determined to have vision problems.
Donations were provided by Digital Eye Lab in Hawthorne, N.Y., which provided lenses, and VisualEyes, a wholesale company in Longwood, Fla., that supplied the frames. Optometrists from the parent company’s other stores, Eyetique and 3 Guys Optical, volunteered their time to provide the kids with the eyecare they needed.
The give-back model will expand as the business grows. In a television news interview, Daniel Childs’ said, “Each month the Chromos team will travel to a different public school to do screenings and free eye exams and eventually hand out free glasses.”
He added, “Having a philanthropic mission was a very important part of forming our brand. People realize they can buy glasses anywhere, but if they know a purchase can positively impact a child’s life, right in their own community, that’s just a win-win for everybody.”