Canadian optical boutique Insight Eye Care employs a unique strategy of keepin’ it local by thinking globally

it certainly doesn’t look like your typical optometric practice. Both inside and out Insight Eye Care in Waterloo, Ontario, is a bit different.

Located in a home that’s almost a century and a half old, owners Tim Sloss, O.D., and Graham Berg, O.D., along with their staff bring the world to their front door. They travel around the globe so they can offer their patients the best independent eyewear available today.

“We house a large collection of unique eyewear from around the world,” says Dr. Berg. “Our team does a tremendous job making sure we keep up with the latest trends as well as edging everything in-house.”

Here, Dr. Berg discusses the importance of independent eyewear, where they travel to find their frame collections, and being part of the surrounding community.

A LITTLE HISTORY

Our practice was founded in the 1980s. Throughout its 30-plus-year history it has moved three times. The latest relocation was in 2016 when we moved into our current spot: a 140-year-old heritage house.

Because the clinic has been in the community a long time, we have just over 70,000 patients in our database (not all active) and have seven doctors who work in the clinic (three part time).

IN THE HOUSE

The house in which we’re located has a rich history in the community—it was originally a farmhouse. We are right in the heart of the oldest neighborhood in Waterloo next to the city’s largest park. Our physical space is roughly 4,000 square feet on the main floor and about 2,800 square feet upstairs.

About four years ago, Dr. Sloss took on the project of coordinating the renovation and overseeing the move. In fact, he did most of the design himself.

We removed an old double-car garage at the back part of the house and put on an addition that allowed us to expand the main floor, but we left as much of the original footprint as we could. The goal of the project was to create a modern space inside while maintaining the historic character of the outside.

The entire perimeter of the dispensary has custom-made wooden displays. Behind reception is part of the old exterior brick wall footprint, and if you look up you will see exposed I beams. We tried to have as much natural light as possible so during the day most of the light in the dispensary comes in through the large garage-style windows.

KEEPIN’ IT INDIE

Once or twice a year we will send a team to pick out unique lines from different destinations across the world. We have attended Vision Expo East and West, SILMO, Mido, and Opti. SILMO is definitely our favorite trade show. Aside from the beauty of Paris in October, many designers specifically release new models for this show. The energy throughout the convention center is always hopping.

For our latest venture, we sent sales and marketing manager Neil Moser and his partner, Troy, across Europe so they could see where a lot of our unique lines are manufactured and put a face to the collections we carry.

THE ‘HOOD
Graham Berg, O.D., describes his community:

We have two universities and one college—the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Conestoga College—within walking distance of our office. Kitchener-Waterloo has a large tech presence from companies such as Google, Blackberry, and Shopify, which has really pushed our local economy to the next level.

If you ever get the opportunity to visit Kitchener-Waterloo, check out the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market, one of the largest farmers markets in North America. And, if you come in October you definitely have to visit Oktoberfest—the largest celebration of Oktoberfest in the world outside of Germany.