By no stretch of the imagination can I be considered a “sport” guy. As a fan, I follow the Mets by virtue of my Queens, New York birthright. And that’s about it when it comes to being a pro-game observer (excepting motorsport where I’m rabid in devotion, as is my son Gram.) As for participation, my love of playing baseball was intense as a kid and teen but lately I’m lucky to engage in the occasional catch. I was a fairly fast runner in college but these days, these legs are NOT those legs. I loathe golf (both watching it and playing it) but being a professional caddy for nearly six years gives me license on that take.

And yet… AND YET… I’ve become quite the expert on sport eyewear over this past decade and a half.
Why? Packaging.

Sport eyewear in general comes with the greatest packaging of information, accessories, cases, pro athlete visuals, decals, Internet linage and consumer-relatable doodads. Our product review for each year’s 20/20 sport eyewear issue takes longer than any other by virtue of the actual packaging we open and the pamphlet literature engrossing us as we study the sunwear.

You couldn’t ask for better point-of-purchase chat-ability between yourself and your potential customer. And with studied care, sport eyewear makes for appealing display opportunities. To all intents and purposes Sport should not even be considered as just a niche. It is literally a GIANT CANYON OF OPPORTUNITY for any optical shop.

Constantly cruising numerous Facebook pages devoted to optical pros, one of the key concerns noted is optical retailers looking for the perfect sport brands to bring in to their shops to replace existing brands, expand their sport footprint or begin the process of addressing consumers looking for options in sport eyewear. Of late, much of the concern has been dispensing brands with heavy online presence and/or ditching brands that are becoming increasingly available via big box product sources.

I’m always tempted to jump in on these conversations with some suggestions… but I refrain since this is the issue where 20/20 delivers the goods, providing a deep range of sport eyewear options.

And key to this whole scenario is the fact that you are the perfect source when it comes to digesting all of that frame and lens tech out there (and in those beautifully packaged sport sunglasses) and delivering it to consumers hungry for information on how to better their game via great eyewear vision solutions.

All eyes are on you. Put on your game face. Score!

James J. Spina
Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]