It’s getting rough, right? I’m sorry I can’t offer you the 15 billion bucks potentially gifted to the (increasingly-not-so) big three automakers (and has anyone thought of following that bailout with an across the board firing of those jet-setting CEO jerks and the appointment of ME as the new United States Secretary of Automobiles) but I do have some rather simple sun-baked advice that might help heal your dispensing woes through potentially hard-times.

Yes, the advice is, in fact, sun-baked to the point where THE most important ingredient in your dispensing brew may well be a gigantic commitment to the sunwear category in any one or all of its multifaceted attributes.

Let’s see... We have the obvious protection factors of sunwear that you are, of course, familiar with and best able to verse your patients far beyond the lame-braining of non-optical (read as department store) professionals. And then there is the branding factor so paramount to the purchasing scenario all consumers from babies to babes and boomers to late-bloomers. And did we mention all those sport buffs and what about those faithful Rx patients looking for clips and tips on how to extend their eyewear wardrobe into the realm of correlated sunglass brands?

Let’s see. Have we missed any opportunities? For sure. Rx sunglasses. And what about all those diehard contact lens patients in dire need of sun protection? And then there are those avid movie buffs in need of the exact same shades worn by James Bond and those couch potatoes looking for the sunglasses worn by an assortment of Desperate Housewives and CSI Miami bloodhounds.

Need assistance? We’re here. This issue’s PapparaziSun feature makes the point that sunwear goes far beyond the realm of beach roaming. It’s sun come winter. And sun can dance in any club and on any red carpet as Hall of Frames in Upfront proves with this and EVERY issue.

I could probably give you 15 billion other reasons to embrace sun but would rather close it up by directing you to the powerful graphic jolt art director Iris Johnson gave to our newly redesigned 20/20 cover. And to keep the sun shining on the rest of our issue new graphic designer Nami Ahn super-heroed our L&T logo.       

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