Fichte, Endl & Elmer open 'store within a store': Eyewear gallery sees a bright future

By Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

Fichte, Endl & Elmer has set its sights on offering eyewear selections that are unique and wide-ranging. It has a vast array of eyewear, sunglasses and frames, with “styles for everyone and every budget.”

Its new Eyewear Gallery recently held a grand-opening celebration at 2825 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst. You’ll find frames from top designers, technical breakthroughs that dazzle the wearer and beholder, and affordability for those on a budget.

The optical gallery has its own entrance and is a separate store from the Fichte, Endl & Elmer ophthalmologist office. You don’t have to be a patient to shop there for glasses, people are encouraged to stop by, and there are no appointments necessary.

Marketing Director Kathleen Otto said the Amherst office optical department that opened in 2000 has now undergone a major expansion: “We went from a small footprint to now five-times larger – we’re 1,600 square feet here.”

The Amherst location also is the company’s laser center. The team sees a wide range of patients for general eye care exams and glasses, and also does all of the refractive surgery procedures at the Amherst location. Doctors do 28 cataract surgeries on a typical day, Otto said.

In 2015, Fichte, Endl & Elmer opened an office at 6500 Porter Road in the Town of Niagara.

Otto said, “It’s very big and beautiful.” It has an optical shop, 12 exam rooms, and a surgery center attached.

Lasik (laser vision correction) and cataract surgery is done in Amherst, and cataract surgery is done in the Town of Niagara location, which has an Ambulatory Surgery Center right next door. There’s another surgery center at 170 Maple Road, Williamsville.

The expansion in Amherst comes with some innovations.

“We added a lot of new, technologically advanced product lines. We have the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses and a big display on those,” Otto said. She described these as glasses that have AI built into them. “They have cameras and they have the ability to hear music through the earpieces.” It’s a marriage of two companies: Ray-Ban and Meta, of Facebook fame.

Perhaps you’re riding your bike and you want to hear music – but separate earpieces that you put in obscure your hearing, drowning out the sound around you.

These glasses solve the problem.

“The sound comes out of the earpiece, right behind your ear, allowing you to hear what’s going on around you, as well. Also, there are cameras in the front. They’re very inconspicuous; you don’t really see them,” Otto said.

“They are basically like a built-in Siri. Let’s say you’re walking around Washington, D.C., looking at the sites – and you’re looking at the White House. You can say, ‘Hey, what’s that big white building in front of me?’ and all of a sudden, boom! You’ll get a big description of what the White House is, who resides there, what goes on there.”

In essence, the glasses are also your audio docent.

But there’s more.

If you are riding your bike in New York City, you have to hold onto your handlebars – it’s very busy.

“But if you want to take pictures of things you’re seeing, you can simply look at them and announce you’d like to take a picture, and the glasses take a picture,” Otto said. “It’s all coordinated with an app on your phone, and you can download your photos, and you can use your phone to play the music. It’s just really wild.

“They’re great for social media influencers and normal people, anybody at all that wants to do active, hands-free lifestyle-type activities.”

Another new technology is used in the Nuance Essilor hearing aid glasses that Fichte, Endl & Elmer also carries. These high-tech specs allow you to wear regular glasses that have hearing ability in the earpiece. The hearing aid, with phone app, allows you to change the volume in the background or turn the sound off and on. They look like regular glasses and they come in a variety of sizes.

You can try these out at the newly expanded Fichte, Endl & Elmer. They are for those with mild to moderate hearing loss.

The “store within a store” concept allows the customer to browse through their favorite designer brands – in eyewear.

“If you know you’re a Gucci girl … you can go right to our office now and go to the Gucci section.” It’s all very easily accessed in one place, Otto said.

Fichte, Endl & Elmer also carries styles by Tom Ford, Kate Spade, Max Mara, Tiffany & Co., Oakley, Tom Davies Bespoke, and Dita, among others.

“It makes it very easy to shop,” Otto said.

The company offers an online convenience called “The Smart Shopper.” If you have an upcoming appointment, five days prior, you’ll receive an automated reminder email from Fichte, Endl & Elmer that also leads you to a way to save time or pre-shop online. You can do a virtual “try-on” that allows you see all different types of glasses. You place a heart next to the ones you like and they go in your tray. When you get the Fichte, Endl & Elmer office, after your exam, they will have a tray ready for you containing all the selections you made online.

“We’re really trying to promote the fact that you don’t have to be a patient to shop here,” Otto said. You can take your current prescription anywhere you like, not just at the place where you had your eye exam. “There’s no appointment ever needed – you can walk right in.”

Fichte, Endl & Elmer accepts most insurance.

“We feel that we have many options for people in every budget,” Otto said. “If you’re on Medicare, there are certain glasses you can get at no charge or very low price.”

Then there’s all the way up to mid-range and designer prices. The company participates with all vision plans in Western New York.

Otto has been with the company for 27 years. She is a surgical technician and has assisted with cataract and lasik surgery, as well as her current responsibilities in handling all the marketing.

For the grand-opening, Otto said Fichte, Endl & Elmer had many new customers who weren’t currently their patients. She said reactions included those who said, “This is impressive,” “It’s much bigger than I thought,” “It’s very beautiful,” and “I can’t believe how much you offer here.”

“We’re excited about the coming years and the expansion,” she said. “We started with one optician in this location 20 years ago, and now we have nine. So, the need is there.

“We’re doing everything we can to stay current and even be ahead of the game – new technology, excellent service and a very large variety.”

Contact Fichte, Endl & Elmer’s Amherst office at 716-564-2641; the Town of Niagara office at 716-282-1116; email optical@fichte.com; or visit www.fichte.com.