Au Bonhomme à lunettes, notre mission est de rendre l’achat de lunettes accessible à tous. Voilà pourquoi on offre des lunettes pas chères douze mois par année. Si vous recevez un devis pour vos lunettes et que vous vous demandez comment vous allez y arriver, voici notre conseil en deux étapes :
- Take a deep breath
- Come see us at one of our service points
In the vast majority of cases, we will have a solution to suit your budget and save you a lot of money. Why are our prices so different? Here are some reasons:
OUR MISSION
Let's start at the beginning when Bonhomme à lunette founder Philippe Rochette worked for big names in the field and saw how customers reacted to the astronomical prices. Seeing them leave without buying the glasses they needed inspired him to become a community-based optician. Philippe already had a strong community ties, so this idea just made sense. The plan was simple: try to never let anyone leave without prescription glasses because of price. Finding solutions was the mission.
USE THE INFERNAL CYCLE OF FASHION TO OUR ADVANTAGE
The problem with frames is that they are caught between two worlds: health and fashion. They belong to the world of health because good vision is essential for our well-being. They belong to the world of fashion because the choice of frames impacts a person’s “look.”. But as we know, fashion is an infernal cycle; just like clothes, trends change every six months (if not three). So what happens to frames when they “fall out of fashion”? Their price drops! That's when we make our move. By buying so-called outdated frames at a lower price, we can afford to sell them at that same low price, and we’ve been doing this since 2007.
AFFORDABLE LENSES = AFFORDABLE GLASSES
Now onto lenses. The ophthalmic lens market is controlled by a small handful of manufacturers that can set prices and market new “revolutionary” technological trends (super ultra giga HD, 360 panoramic, blue light filter etc…). Our solution: we simply don’t work with these companies. We work with suppliers who are not listed on the stock exchange and who offer us generic lenses with similar design and quality as those from the big lens makers. Result: unbeatable prices.
A MORE SOBER OPERATING MODEL
For a long time, Bonhomme à lunettes had no storefront. We simply took our suitcases full of glasses and set up shop in community organizations. We trusted word-to-mouth to get the message out. Things have changed a bit since we started out, but not much. We still avoid paying rent for a storefront, we don’t invest in expensive marketing campaigns on TV, and we don’t sell expensive lenses. All this keeps our operating costs down, which allows us to offer customer prescription glasses at reasonable prices.
NO SALES OBJECTIVES
Having weekly or monthly sales targets is part of the retail world. So be it. Except that, when it comes to glasses, we always had some discomfort with the practice. We are talking about an essential item after all. This is why when you come to us, the optician who will serve you will have only one objective: to find the best possible solution to meet your real needs, while taking into account your means.
Add all these strategies together and that’s how we can offer you such affordable prescription glasses. That doesn’t mean that others in the industry don’t try to shame us. But let them talk. Once thing they can’t explain is how we were recommended by consumer report magazine Protégez-Vous in 2019.