Bob Reynolds, OAA President, reports that there is a surge in attempts to deregulate or consolidate licensed professions by doing away with or combining state licensing boards. Attempts at deregulation have been made recently in Ohio, Arizona, Virginia and Florida, with more states certain to follow. You may recall that the OAA was instrumental in assisting opticians in Virginia, where a bill to deregulate opticians died in committee.

I remember sitting in my first graduate course and the professor started by asking us to define our culture. He gave us a few minutes to think. The only thing I was thinking was, well, I’m Puerto Rican. So, I raised my hand very confidently and said, “I’m Puerto Rican. We dance to salsa and eat Hispanic foods.” He said, “No, Ms. Soto,” in his heavy Puerto Rican accent. That is your race.” Hmmm, what is he talking about? Well, I learned as the lesson moved on. Let me explain and how it applies in our world of Opticianry.

In an age when brick and mortar must compete not just with internet but big box and other opticals, presentation is key to not only differentiating yourself from the competition, but providing patients with a pleasing ambiance and atmosphere to encourage browsing and purchasing. Done well, good presentation can lend generous dividends. In-store visual presentation is accountable for the majority of retail purchases, according to Joseph Weishar, author of The Aesthetics of Merchandise Presentation (2005, stmediagroup.com/stbooks). How, then, does an optical retail—especially one attempting to compete by offering patients the boutique experience—succeed through presentation?