JPGlides from Fitovers sport a smaller, modern style that's popular with young adults.

FRAMES/FASHION
A Very Fitting Niche
By Koleen Kaffan

If you could have a product in your dispensary that required no fitting, had a distinct audience, brought in customers almost solely on word of mouth, and never needed to be filled with an Rx, wouldn�t you sell it? Well, most of you aren�t. And you could be missing out on a lucrative niche that could bring customers into your dispensary, as well as their friends.

The �fit-over� sunglass niche is that category. Many dispensaries that sell these products are told time and time again by their customers that finding the product is like finding a needle in a haystack, and once the customer finds a shop that sells them, they keep coming back...and bringing friends and family.

The Cat-eye Solar Shield by Dioptics features polarized lenses and a blue or brown tortoise frame.

Sharon Cribbs, manager of Mayo Clinic Optical in Jacksonville, Fla., has a large client base that does outdoor activities. �One golfer (an out-of-state patient) purchased a pair, and then several members of his golf club called and purchased some by mail from us.�

And optometrist Virginia Reed of Sterling Optical in Annapolis, Md., a big sailing community, has customers who come in and buy extra pairs just to leave on their boats for guests. �One month, our total sales of Fitovers came from one person,� says Reed, �That�s where the direction of the market has gone for us.�

While the stereotypical fit-over sunglass customer is seen as a member of the blue-haired set, that idea is changing. Emelia Baxes, an optician for Dr. Paul Mazur-Sandpiper Optics in Sea Girt, N.J., has witnessed this change since Fitovers (an Australian-based company that infused the category with a fashion-forward design) introduced its Jonathan Paul Glides line of smaller, more modern looking sunglasses.

�To my amazement, girls in their 20s have come in looking for JPGlides,� she says. �They�re more modern.� The Glides use a trendy, wrap design while still providing side shields to block light. They are also made to fit over smaller eyeglass frame styles.

But don�t give up on the older set�s attraction to the product too soon. Baxes� fit-over sunglass clientele is generally men in their 50s and 60s, but she notes that many of them come in with spouses. �Many times, the wives will leave with a pair,� says Baxes.

Since most patients searching out these products are drawn into the store by word of mouth, advertising and displays are scarce. While companies do provide them, many dispensaries opt for filling up countertop spaces with the P-O-P material of other products. This may be a mistake. �One gentleman had purchased a pair a long time ago and was amazed to see our display,� notes Baxes, �He hadn�t been able to find them anywhere.�

While dispensaries certainly could not exist solely on fit-over sunglass sales, they do help to create a niche for dispensaries and helps them stand out from their competition. �We have had customers come in looking specifically for them,� Reed says, �and then became customers for other purposes as well.�

Many of the popular brands feature polycarbonate polarized lenses and side shields. Often patients are first referred to a fit-over sunglass after cataract or refractive surgery when eyes are at their most sensitive. Other fans of fit-over sunglasses are people who spend a lot of time outdoors like hunters, sailers, and golfers. Most products come in different frame and lens colors and feature UV protection.

Sports enthusiasts are quickly becoming fans of fit-over sunwear as well, dispensers say, because the frames are lightweight, fit securely to the face, and offer a practical alternative to carrying an expensive pair of prescription sunwear or having to adjust clip-ons. Many dispensaries are showing rising sales in this category. �We�re more of a prescription optical store, but our fit-over sales are growing,� says Reed. �It started out with just a few a month, and now we sell about a dozen to a dozen and a half a month.�

Patients worried about the high cost of protection from the sun see a fit-over sunglass as an affordable alternative. For others, however, the low cost of a fit-over sunglass will not deter them from taking the plunge and buying prescription sunwear as well.

The fit-over category has a distinct audience, and that audience is very loyal. And what dispensary doesn�t like a loyal customer?