Eyeglass wearers know that the cost to purchase some cool-looking specs can get quite hefty. About 74% of Canadians actually need vision correction—that’s a lot of people having to spend a lot of money. With that being said, there are actually a bunch of brands that sell affordable yet stylish glasses in Toronto.
Here are the top places to buy affordable glasses in Toronto
Costco
Did you know that most Costco Wholesale locations have a vision centre? They accept current prescriptions from licensed doctors, optometrists, and ophthalmologists, so you don’t need to have an eye exam there to purchase eyewear. Most of its styles you get score for a bargain, and they also have contacts available for purchase.
Pearle Vision
This chain is full of deals, promotions, specials, coupons, and discounts on everything from frames to contact lenses. Pearle Vision stores are located all around Toronto and the GTA, so finding one near you is super easy. Before you drop-in, make sure to check out their Special Offers page, where they often have multiple deals going on at a time.
Glass Monocle
Whether you’re in the market for a new pair of specs or sunglasses, Glass Monocle has you covered. From high-end name brands to less expensive pairs, you’re sure to find one that totally compliments you and your style. The brand has two locations, one on Bloor Street West and Queen Street East.
Ollie Quinn
With multiple locations around Toronto, you can buy sunglasses and prescription glasses for as low as $205 at Ollie Quinn. They have a wide range of styles, from Harry Potters to steel aviators. Not to mention, they also offer eye exams. You can also order online if you can’t make it in-store!
312 Optical
Located on College Street in Toronto, 312 Optical has fashionable and innovative designs that’ll definitely get you compliments. From the tiny glasses trend to John Lennon-inspired glasses, you’re sure to find a frame that is a perfect match for your face.
Warby Parker
With three locations in Toronto, one on Queen St. West, one in Yorkdale Shopping Centre, and one at Eaton Centre, you can pick up cheap eyewear from Warby Parker. Choose from a huge selection and pay bargain prices for frames with prescription lenses. You can even get them delivered to your home! If you’re looking for something extra special, make sure to check out their limited edition glasses online.
Squint Eyewear
Founded by optician Amin Mamdani in 2003, Squint Eyewear is a flourishing brand, fully committed to providing exceptional service and a unique experience. With a focus on individualized fittings and consultations, the wonderful staff will guide you to find your perfect frames.
OPTICIANADO
Building on over 15 years of expertise in the optical industry, this independent boutique is located in Toronto’s Junction neighbourhood. OPTICIANADO specializes in iconic unused vintage eyewear and contemporary independent designers.
Hakim Optical
Through diligent research of the eyewear industry, Hakim Optical offers the highest-performing technology in frames and lenses to our customers. Plus, if you find an advertised price lower than what they’re offering, the company will beat it by 10%.
Saigon Optical
This nondescript storefront in Toronto’s Chinatown is not to be missed. Forget the unassuming exterior and check out Saigon Optical‘s super cheap prices. They even have the occasional two-for-one deal at less than $150. Brands featured at the store include Gucci, Tom Ford, YSL, Cartier, and more.
Specs & Specs
If you want to go a bit more upscale and look for a specific designer, take a peek at this Queen West store before buying anywhere else. The Toronto Fashion District-based store has been in business for over 20 years! At Specs and Specs, you’ll like to find designer glasses for less than other retailers.
LF Optical
Check out one of its stores across the GTA to find thousands of frames, including boutique lines from top designers, at big discounts. Brands you’ll find at LF Optical stores include Burberry, Oliver People’s, Tory Burch, Yves Saint Laurent, Prada, and more.
Clearly
With only one location in Toronto, Clearly is well worth the streetcar or car ride downtown. Located on Queen St. West, the e-comm store-turned-storefront offers in-house contact lens fittings and eye exams. With your exam, you’ll get a $20 credit towards your next pair of glasses. Don’t need an exam? Don’t worry. You can bring in your prescription and choose a pair you like regardless. Prices start at just $50.
BonLook
Another place to look for trendy yet affordable eyewear is BonLook. The retailer has multiple locations across the GTA, and offers glasses with prescription lenses starting at $100. Each pair of frames featured in stores are designed in Montreal, so you can feel good about supporting a Canadian business and look good while you’re at it!
Dresden
Dresden glasses are built to stand the test of time—literally. Each pair come with a lifetime warranty, so you don’t have to worry about scratching up your super cool new frames. From bold to simply neutral looks, Dresden never sacrifices style.
Optical Thirty8
Located on Queen St. West, Optical Thirty8 is known for its wallet-friendly optical services and a wide collection of eyewear, which includes affordable frames amongst the assortment. The store also hosts great promotions and packages on prescription eyewear from time to time. If you aren’t in Toronto, you can also find Optical Thirty 8 locations in Mississauga, Scarborough, Aurora, and Vaughan.
Bailey Nelson
Bailey Nelson is a popular Australian-based brand that specializes in stylish, affordable, and high-quality eyewear in Toronto. Its popularity speaks for itself, with multiple locations in the city, you’re sure to find one close by. Here you’ll find styles ranging from classic tortoiseshell wireframes to acetate pairs in bright colours. The in-store opticals also offer fair-priced eye exams, so you can update your prescription before you shop its wide selection of frames ranging in price!
Oscar Wylee
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Just like any accessory, it’s nice to switch your eyewear up from time-to-time to keep things fresh. But those who wear glasses know that that can be hard to do — especially with how pricy eyewear can be.
Luckily, there are a bunch of brands disrupting the market with affordable eyewear, including a new Canadian company called KITS.
KITS is a new Vancouver-based eyewear brand that is committed to making glasses more accessible and affordable.
On the KITS website, you can find a huge variety of contacts, glasses, and sunglasses for men and women and frames start at under $100.
While ordering glasses online can be risky, KITS offers virtual try-ons so that you can see exactly how a pair of glasses will look before you commit. Not to mention, there is a 30-day return policy.
Interested in trying KITS? For the month of September, the company is giving away 30,000 pairs of free glasses!
New customers can score a free pair of glasses throughout the entire month. All you have to do is head to the website, choose your specs, and use the promotion code “FREEKITS” at checkout.
The offer is available for KITS branded glasses and there are over 300 different styles to choose from. The free pair includes standard lenses and all you have to pay for is the shipping. There are a couple of exclusions, which means that premium lenses and coatings are an additional cost, but that’s a small price to pay for a stylish new pair of frames.
Head to KITS.com to browse the styles or learn more about about the promotion.
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Anyone who has purchased prescription glasses knows that living a less blurry life doesn’t come cheap. Lenses and frames can make a major dent in your credit card – something that often comes as a surprise to new wearers.
And prices have only increased in recent years.
What may also come as a surprise is that a single (massive) company controls the majority of the world’s eyeglass industry.
Luxottica is the leading name in the eyeglass business of recent decades, especially when it comes to designer frames. Brands owned and licensed under the Luxottica name include names from Armani, Brooks Brothers, and Chanel to Coach, Oakley, and Versace. Yes, pretty much every brand we all know and love.
Instagram/@vogueeyewear
Essentially, Luxottica grew by buying its competition, one big purchase at a time.
The company also owns LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, Sunglass Hut, and Target Optical. Most recently, Luxottica teamed up with Duty Free Americas to launch their second standalone store at Panama’s Tocumen International Airport.
They also run the insurer EyeMed Vision Care. In its biggest move to date, last year, Luxottica merged with Essilor, the global leader in prescription eyewear and contact lenses, to form EssilorLuxottica.
As David Lazarus highlights in a recent Los Angeles Times article, there is now virtually no competition in the eyewear industry, leaving the Italian company free to set any prices it chooses.
The result is markups for lenses and frames of up to 1000 per cent. According to Lazarus’ interviews with longtime industry insiders, the prices consumers pay for eyewear are much higher than the actual cost of making the actual frames and lenses. The latter, apparently, only costs $5-$15 to produce.
Instagram/@sunglasshut
Luxottica’s journey into its monopoly into the eyeglass world – not surprisingly – wasn’t without its share of headline-making drama.
Once in control of massive retail outlets, Luxottica favoured stocking shelves with its own frames rather than those of former longtime suppliers. As Lazarus highlights, Oakley refused to lower wholesale prices at Sunglass Hut once Luxottica purchased the brand in 2001.
Luxottica took the bully approach, boycotting it from its retailers and diminishing its market value in the process so that Luxottica was able to purchase it for a lot less than it was valued a few years prior.
With control over everything from the supply chain to insurers, massive retail outlets have afforded Luxottica the ability to raise prices as its dollar-driven heart desires.
Instagram/@nwahh
While this may be good for the bank accounts of the company executives, it isn’t exactly peachy for the average consumer, especially since glasses are considered a necessity for many people to function in life.
In our growing gig-based culture, fewer young professionals have benefit packages that’ll cover of the pricey eyewear tab too.
Those who take issue with Luxottica may be slightly satisfied to know that things aren’t exactly going as well post-merger.
Last month, shares in EssilorLuxottica slumped 22 per cent since the two brands merged. Luxottica founder, 83-year-old Leonardo Del Vecchio, accused the Essilor leaders of violating their agreement on corporate governance.
In response, Essilor execs quickly accused Del Vecchio of mounting a “de facto attempt to take control of the new group,” stating that he made untrue accusations regarding the company’s governance and management.
Despite any internal conflict, one thing remains pretty stable: the cost of a new pair of designer eyeglasses or sunglasses will continue to set you back a pretty penny (or a few hundred) for the foreseeable future.
Featured Image: Pixabay
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Oliver Peoples makes some of the most coveted eyewear on the planet. Wildly known by major fashion consumers, the brand as yet to make a major impact in Canada. That is all set to change as the luxury eyewear brand -headquartered in California has announced their first ever boutique in Canada.
The new boutique is set to be opened in Toronto’s Yorkdale Centre this week on September 28th, 2018. The new shop is petite taking up on 743 square feet and will debut an exclusive collection for Canadians inspired by our country’s lush-wild landscape.
“The Oliver Peoples Toronto boutique combines our iconic Mid-Century California aesthetic with local influences. Toronto is a major metropolitan city, but at the same time, it’s surrounded by vast greenery. When designing the boutique, I wanted to represent this fusing of environments by incorporating accent walls of suede sage, 60’s ribbed walnut wood, and Verde Alpi marble. Traditional to our brand, I also integrated European design elements such as the contrasting brass detailing, Terrazzo marble flooring, Zanuso armchairs, and vintage Stilnovo lighting fixtures. “- Giampiero Tagliaferri, Creative Director of Oliver Peoples.
The new Toronto boutique will carry a wide array of sunglasses and optical for men and women. In celebration of the Yorkdale opening, the boutique will exclusively offer a limited edition OP-40 30th in tortoise acetate with vibrant green lenses-inspired by the boutiques interior design. To complete the product offering, modern interpretations of two of the brand’s most iconic sunglasses, “Aero” and “Victory” are relaunched with American fashion house The Row.
“We’re thrilled to be entering the Canadian market and to announce our newest retail boutiques in Toronto and Vancouver. Strategically within one month of each other, we plan to offer the highest level of luxury eyewear and customer service to both the East and Western portions of Canada. Oliver Peoples is proud to join the exclusive network of the world’s top fashion retailers that reside in the centre and be a part of the premier shopping experience they’ve created.”-Rocco Basilico CEO of Oliver Peoples.
Luxury eyewear retailer from the US, Oliver Peoples will enter the Canadian market this year with its first standalone stores this year. The brand will be opening its first Canadian store at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. A Vancouver location is also in the works, with details to be revealed in the future. Oliver Peoples has over 30 stores internationally, according to its website.
Oliver Peoples is the latest international eyewear retailer to enter the Canadian market. According to Retail-Insider, over the past 24 months, Canada has seen more international eyewear retailers enter the country than at any time in our history. Other popular brands that have joined the Canadian market include Warby Parker, Illesteva, SEE, Bailey Nelson, Ollie Quinn, Mujosh, Optical Center, and Acuitis.
Their frames are “anti-logo” which the company says “appeals to refined consumers”. Oliver Peoples’ frames are known to be worn by celebrities and to be on the more expensive side.
Featured Image: Instagram/@oliverpeoples
Source: Retail-Insider.com
Have you ever shopped at Oliver Peoples? Let us know in the comments!
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Hong Kong-based eyewear brand MUJOSH opened its first North American store last week at Edmonton’s West Edmonton Mall. It could be the first of multiple locations for the retailer and marks the first of at least three new international eyewear companies set to enter the Canadian market in 2017.
MUJOSH was founded in 2010 and it already has over 700 boutiques globally, operating both freestanding stores as well as department store shop-in-stores. Its stores are in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia and now, Canada.
To Read More Head Over to Our Retail Contributors @Retail-Insider
Photo via: retail Insider – PHOTO: DANIEL HASSAN/WEST EDMONTON MALL)