How do the illuminated eyewear cabinets add value to the glasses in the new space?

The glasses and the colours of the sunglasses look very nice. It doesn't seem like a standard spectacle presentation to me. I thought it was a lot of money, but when I saw how everything is put together and what kind of lighting system is included, I thought it was completely worth the money. The image of a “plug and play” eyewear presentation that I previously had has been completely reversed.

Taking risks is part of being an entrepreneur and preparation is half the battle.

You started an optical store in Zuidlaren in 2021, how did you end up in this place?

Five years before, an independent optician had closed down and I started investigating that place. I checked with the real estate agent to see what the houses are like, and what kind of people live there. The incomes are above average. There is a lot of recreation, tourism, nice authentic shops, it really has a regional function. I have Rodenstock as a glass supplier and they said: that if you are going to start an optical store there, it must be a success. If such a party says so, it will encourage even more to build something in this place.

Why did you expand the store?

Expansion was a long-term wish, but after 1.5 years the landlord announced that the building next door was becoming available. Zuidlaren is never vacant, so we switched the switch because there were more privateers on the coast. We had a year to figure out how we could generate traffic.

How did you integrate the new building into the current one?

By breaking through the wall, the two spaces are linked together. People enter the old part, which is quite light, which is the “cold side”. When they walk to the “warm side”, they take their time, they want advice and the contact moment is much longer. It surprises people It's positive that we have two different atmospheres in one store, which I always find very cool when I visit somewhere.

“We are creating one large department store in Zuidlaren together with all local entrepreneurs.”

How do you ensure that you get new customers in your store?

Because we have expanded the width of the building, we are now very visible physically. I like to connect people, so we work a lot with local entrepreneurs. We are also very active with roadside advertising, via various online platforms, social media, etc. This makes us very visible both online and offline.

Did you have a clear concept in mind?

We had a year to think about this, which helped us enormously.

You see a generation of opticians emerging that think out of the box, anything is possible these days. We have been on the road a lot and we have not only looked at optical stores, but especially many catering establishments in terms of interior design. We took ideas from everywhere that we identified with and implemented everything ourselves. People say that you can really see our DNA in the store and that makes the difference from other stores. If you maintain that in a place like Zuidlaren, it can only be a success.

If you do everything in the store yourself, how do you challenge yourself to continue to surprise the customer?

We always come up with something that people want to talk about. For us, it happens in a very natural way, just as we are. People always come in with a smile because something is always happening. We have hired a stylist for the holidays because Christmas has to be a blast. Irma Veelo from Brandy Styles is someone who understands us well and switches easily. She looks on the spot to see what she can make or use from what we already have.

When I spoke to Géraldine after the delivery of the glasses cases, she said: "I'm really happy that you called us, we are so happy with the cases!"

You were not immediately sure whether this glasses presentation should be the case, what made you decide to go for the Carré glasses cases?

I don't like standard displays, I want to remain flexible. At Bold Optical Fair you showed the Carré cabinets and I mainly saw the security and that image stuck. Géraldine said, let's take a look because I also saw open glasses presentations on illuminated shelves. Then I went to your website to see who else had the Carré eyewear cabinets in their stores and I saw all the authentic, unique, and idiosyncratic stores that also use it and that really appealed to me.

What has the expansion done to the presentation of eyewear collections?

The eyewear shelves are less full, we had really outgrown our collections, it became confusing. 4 of the 5 brands have moved to the new section and we have 1 new brand. Next year there will be 2 more, but we don't want too many glasses brands.

Store:  Jij brillen en meer, Zuidlaren
Interviewee: Jeroen IJntema
Store design: Jij brillen en meer, Zuidlaren
Installer: Jij brillen en meer, Zuidlaren