By Victoria Garcia

A city surrounded by mountains, high plains and desert lands, Colorado Springs emits a specific sense of character and diversity. Situated on Fountain Creek near the base of the famous mountains, Pikes Peak, “The Springs” boasts a strong historical background apparent in its community, businesses and residents. With Pikes Peak rising over 8,000 feet above the downtown area and offering breathtaking views, it would be easy to miss the local pride and passion found throughout the city. Standing tall among its fellow businesses lies Charlotte’s Optical Co., an ode to the character and history of Colorado Springs.

Traveling to Colorado Springs from Germany, Charlotte Gazak opened her namesake boutique, Charlotte’s Optical Co., in October of 1989. As the daughter of an optometrist, Gazak had a passion for eyewear and discovered that Colorado Springs was missing a high-end eyewear boutique. Originally located in the historic Old Colorado City, Charlotte’s Optical Co., was immediately embraced by the community as one of the only places at the time selling independent eyewear. From word of mouth and involvement in her community, Gazak’s business flourished. In 1998, Gazak moved Charlotte’s Optical Co., to Old Depot Square, a train depot in the heart of Colorado Springs. As a central part of Colorado’s train industry and the establishment of Colorado Springs, the building has a historic heritage that now attracts customers and visitors from all over the country.

Hired personally by Gazak, Paul Garcia began working at Charlotte’s Optical Co., as a laboratory technician in 2005. Since then, Garcia has taken on many other tasks including frame buying and creating extraordinary, personalized custom eyewear pieces for his customers. After more than 10 years of experience in the optical industry, Garcia continues to take Charlotte’s Optical Co., to the next plateau, while maintaining one of the most treasured small businesses in Colorado Springs. “We’ve got a very large following, and I even have regulars if you can even imagine such a thing,” explains Garcia. “We have people fall head over heels with what we do, how we do it, with our inventory; it just makes waves in town.” Customers have plenty of luxury lines to choose from including Anne et Valentin, Francis Klein, J.F. Rey, theo and Lindberg. “We have a pretty good array of things; we get a lot of responses from unique colors and shapes,” says Garcia. “But we are a true boutique in that everything we sell in one respect or another is somewhat of an independent line.” The boutique is usually stocked with about 2,000 frames at a time ranging between $450 and $550.

With a noteworthy location and diverse range of eyewear, Charlotte’s Optical Co., has a charming quality that keeps customers coming back for more. Walking inside the single-level boutique, customers are greeted with a mixture of eyewear display walls surrounded by defining accents of maroon, black and gold, the store’s main colors. With displays encompassing the store as well as a mixture of glass and wood cases, each presentation attracts different kinds of customers. “We really like to showcase as much as we can as opposed to just having your typical frameboard displays. I don’t necessarily believe in very sterile or simple frameboards,” explains Garcia. “We always have whimsical and persnickety displays. Whatever we have that can make a play on the eyewear that we are trying to sell, we will use as a display item.” Garcia uses anything he can find to enhance the appeal of frame displays, including P.O.P, jewelry, plants, flowers, trinkets and colorful decorations. With a powerful emphasis on window exposition, colors and brand names are incorporated into each display to help both soften and enrich the layout of the store. Placed throughout the boutique are also small counter treatments featuring one or two frames, allowing more eyewear lines to be displayed. Displays are organized by genre and brand by separating modern, clean lines from colorful and ornamented brands.

A large, unique demographic of customers ideally fits with all that Charlotte’s Optical Co., has to offer, a characteristic that Garcia finds noteworthy to his business. “I think this is a little bit where I am a bit enamored by my store. As far as the average customer, you kind of never know what you’re going to get. Colorado Springs in particular has a very diverse crowd—being in the middle of the states you get a really broad array of customers.” Supporting the community is another way for Garcia to connect with his customers. Advertisements in local magazines, donating to local causes and offering personalized deals to customers are all ways to get customers into the store. “We try to do innovative things that make it kind of fun to come into the store and look around.” Mostly relying on word of mouth from current customers, Charlotte’s Optical Co., has caught the attention of many passersby. The boutique has served customers from every state as well as many countries across the world, becoming a destination for eyewear connoisseurs.



Customers are welcomed into the boutique by eyecare professionals exhibiting the same passion and eagerness exemplified by Garcia. A vital part of Charlotte’s Optical Co.’s customer service technique involves personally getting to know each individual customer. “That’s the most important thing that keeps us going—how much we put into just being friends with our customers and helping them through a process that would otherwise be complicated.” Garcia and his employees guide customers throughout their dispensary based on a customer’s personality, lifestyle and hobbies. He allows customers to steer him in the direction of certain eyewear they prefer, while lending a helping hand with suggestions and an insider’s point of view. “You have to have a good staff that’s knowledgeable and generous toward customers. Those are the cardinal rules for us.” All customers are given a supply of cleaning cloths, cases and free repairs. Most repairs and adjustments are made in-house. “The number one thing is for them to be happy and content with what they buy.” Another easy way for customers to make informed decisions comes with the help of an iPoint Kiosk, a gadget that takes pictures of customers wearing various frame styles, allowing them to study themselves and compare each style.

Although Garcia’s passion for eyewear has extended to helping customers and selecting frames, he originally began as a lab technician, a skill he continues to perfect. “The lab for me is very therapeutic. I’m methodical and there is something about the mathematics and geometry of optics that is very elegant to me.” Garcia creates custom pieces for many customers, adding an extra flair to already existing frames. He has used wood inlay, embroidery fibers, fur, gold and silver leafing, semi-precious stones, as well as many other materials to create extremely detailed and personalized frames. Many of these materials need to be set by hand, all of which are done by Garcia. Although he does not have a large customer base for these types of frames, Garcia takes the time and energy to make sure each request is special and unique. “I started to invest in different tools and different drills, and I really invested a lot of time in understanding the cause and effect of what happens when you customize a frame lens. It just evolved from there.” In celebration of 20/20’s 40th anniversary, Garcia specially handcrafted a dazzling Lindberg frame detailed in the January issue’s Parting Glance.  

With a few bumps along the way, Garcia has managed to maintain the allure of Charlotte’s Optical Co., calling himself an optical soldier of fortune. His love for eyewear is apparent in all his work and radiates throughout the entire boutique. With customers consistently coming back for more, it’s no wonder Charlotte’s Optical Co., has become the go-to destination for high-end eyewear in Colorado Springs. “It’s a passion and love for me,” explains Garcia. “I almost can’t put it into words. I just love it and wouldn’t have it any other way.” ■