Meet Jorge Zuniga and Darlene Becerra of Prism Optical Chicago in Old Irving Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jorge Zuniga, Darlene Becerra.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Jorge, Darlene. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My father was an optometrist in Mexico. He taught me to edge lenses by hand when I was a teenager. I worked for a few optical chains but my wife convinced me to start our own business in 1991. We started out in a small back room inside one of our optical accounts. We soon picked up more wholesale accounts and moved into our own retail space. In 1996 we moved to our Old Irving Park location.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Over the years our optical accounts have learned to trust our quality of work. They send us their patient’s frames and we edge the lenses into them. Our patients too have returned and we’ve seen some patient grow into adults with their own children. The biggest struggle for us has been the optical industry itself, with the large chain companies slowly swallowing up the small optical shops. Everything in the healthcare industry dealing with insurance companies has changed, pushing out quality over their profits to the point we can no longer do the lab work for some of our own patients not to mention our optical accounts can no longer send their patients frames to us either. A book could be written over the monopoly that one company alone has created.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Prism Optical Chicago – what should we know?
When you do something for most your life you become very good at it, but you also have to be smart enough to know there is always something new to learn and after 30 years we’re still learning. In the average optical store the opticians have very little experience, there is usually a quick turnover of employees and they’re worried about making a commission. Also most big chain optical companies send the frames to big optical labs where the glasses are made on an assembly line. We make the glasses from start to finish. We are a wholesale optical lab, keeping our prices down by the high volume of lenses we purchase, then we are able to pass that savings on to our own patients. When you come to us you cut out the middle man. We are also set apart not only by our knowledge, but our passion for our business. We strive at supplying each patient with the highest quality service and products.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Having a good work ethic is key to the success of any business. Sure it’s important to show up to work but you need to do a good job. You need to care about the quality you put into everything because it’s a direct reflection on you.

Pricing:

• Complete quality eyewear starting from $75

Contact Info:

• Address: 3594 N. Milwaukee
  Chicago, IL 60641
• Website: www.prismopticalchicago.com
• Phone: 773-205-6447
• Instagram: instagram@PrismOpticalChicago
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Prism-Optical-Chicago-126156967396714/

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