Mitchell Lester has worn glasses for 58 years.
For several months, he knew it was time to get his eyes re-checked. (Not being able to see anything was a clue.)
The day before New Year’s Eve, his (very old) glasses slid off his face, onto the floor.
Mitchell called Specs. Owner Chris Cannella was all set to close his Post Road East shop for the day. But he said “come on over”; he’d see what he could do.
Specs is on Post Road East, a few doors down from Patagonia.
No surprise: The frames needed soldering. They’d have to be sent out. By the time they were ready Mitchell would be away, enjoying a tropical vacation. (If he could see what he was doing.)
Oh well.
But the next morning — Sunday, December 31 — Mitchell’s phone rang. Chris called — Mitchell thinks he tracked him down through that long-ago purchase — and said, “Come on down.”
Chris thought he had frames he could fit the still-usable lenses into. Mitchell headed over.
But the frames were too big for the lenses.
So Chris found some smaller frames. He spent an hour cutting the lenses down to size. Then he told Mitchell to keep them until he got his eyes re-checked.
Mitchell Lester’s new specs.
At that point, Chris will pick out new frames.
At Specs, of course.
(To nominate an Unsung Hero, email dwoog@optonline.net)
Love this! A great story of a passionate small business owner of a business that will never be replaced by Amazon!! He and Christine and all
their staff provide consistently unsurpassed personal service and expertise!! Specs is the best!!
Once again we see the inherent quality of a local business. Thanks for highlighting this!
You won’t find compassionate service like this in a big box store either.
Generally true, and sometimes the exception does prove the rule. Local optician Asher Wein (“Optical Image”) took exceptional care of my family’s eyeglass needs for many years. At some point, he realized that he couldn’t maintain his storefront operation with the level of quality that he wants to provide to customers. The unlikely place that now allows him to provide us with a high level of skill and expertise: the optical dept. at BJ’s Wholesale Club on Black Rock Tpke.