How I...
Cater to a diverse clientele
By Marcy Bruch

Just 19 miles off the coast of Venezuela lies Aruba, where trade winds keep hurricanes at bay, and the call of the Caribbean lures tourists to bask in the tropical sun.

It's also where the Kok family has built a multi-store optical chain in less than a decade. The family includes Marcel and Yolanda Kok, and their three children, Rudolph, Frans, and Alexandria.

Based in Oranjestad, this Kok Optica location meets the needs of islanders and tourists alike

Marcel came to Aruba from The Netherlands 44 years ago to practice optometry, and soon met his wife, Yolanda, a native of the island.

Their two younger children, Frans and Alexandria, attended optometry school in the Netherlands and spent a few years practicing their trade in Rotterdam before returning to their island home in 1996. When they arrived, their parents and older brother Rudolph, a lawyer, decided to partner with Frans and Alexandria by opening a dispensary, Kok Optica, in the capital city of Oranjestad.

As soon as Kok Optica opened, it was evident the clientele was a mixed bag--50 percent were locals and 50 percent were tourists.

What's more, of the tourist customer base, there were equal parts Americans, South Americans, and Europeans. The challenge for the Kok family was to make sure they had something appealing for every customer.

ISLAND BLEND

Since the sun shines in Aruba practically every day of the year, they knew the best way to initially satisfy their tourist clientele was to offer a broad selection of sunwear at every pricepoint.

Still, they also wanted to meet the eyewear needs of the community, who were often on insurance programs or had less discretionary income. Along with its broad selection of sunwear, Kok Optica dedicates a wall of board space for value eyewear to suit the needs of a modest budget--yet caselines also house eyewear on the high-end.

"We are committed to treating each customer equally, regardless of their financial circumstance," says Yolanda.

Indeed, because she knows so many people in the local community, customers call to ask her to help them pick out eyewear before she hands them over to Frans or Alexandria to deal with the technical aspects.

	Above, the sunwear shop in Oranjestad.

THE MULTILINGUAL EDGE

The entire Kok family is fluent in four languages--Papiamento, Dutch, English, and Spanish. English comes in handy when dealing with U.S. and European tourists, while speaking Spanish helps facilitate dealing with South American clientele.

With an untapped market in selling sunwear to tourists, the Kok family opened a sunwear specialty shop two blocks from the first dispensary, which became dedicated to ophthalmic eyewear. Much of the sunwear comes directly from Italy and Paris through Marcel and Yolanda's buying trips to Mido and Silmo and is duty-free.

While most of the sunwear runs from $150 upwards, there is a tower of sunglasses averaging around $40 per pair. "We don't want to lose a sale from people who happen to be shopping in town and forgot their good pair of sunglasses back at their hotel," says store manager Charles Croes.

The Kok family Frans, Alexandria, and Rudolph, stand behind their parents, Marcel and Yolanda

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR

Focusing on the island's annual timeshare visitors, the Kok family opened a store in 1998 at La Cabana--a time share resort on the island with 2000 units. The La Cabana store features 50 percent fashion sunwear and 50 percent sport sunwear, so the windsurfers and jet skiers, as well as the sun worshippers, can find exactly what they need.

"There's a significant amount of tourists who never leave their hotel grounds to come downtown because they just want to relax by the water," notes Rudolph. "You'd be surprised at how many people lose their prescription eyewear on the beach, so they need them replaced in a hurry."

Although the La Cabana location is a 350-square-foot sunwear specialty shop, visitors can get their prescription eyewear replaced immediately at the downtown dispensary.

To better accommodate this growing time-share clientele, the original dispensary has expanded to more than 1,500 square feet to showcase frames at every price range--from $80 to $1,200.

When the Queen Beatrix International Airport was renovated in 2000 and merchants jockeyed for retail space, Kok Optica was one of five retailers invited by airport authorities to lease space on site.

What's in store for the Kok family going forward? "We definitely want to continue growing the sunwear side of the business," Frans says.

To do that, the family is looking at opening a store at the end of the island where a new timeshare is under construction.

The family sees the importance of expanding the optical side of the business, too, since more timeshare holders consider Aruba to be their second home.

Notes Rudolph: "Local people and regular visitors know that wherever they are on this island, their eyewear needs will be taken care of."