his practice’s new home
There was a point during the pandemic where Justin Kellett was not sure if he’d have a business by the end of it all but, instead, he decided to move to a bigger site.
‘I thought, “The patients aren’t going anywhere so let’s carry on with the job in hand”,’ Kellett tells Optician.
Relocating to a bigger site gave staff at the Horwich-based independent a focus during Covid-19 and it meant there was a light at the end of the tunnel for furloughed team members.
Since Justin Kellett Opticians’ move to a former Barclays Bank site on Winter Hey Lane in Bolton, the practice is operating at double capacity compared to what it was pre-Covid and it has increased the days it tests from three to five days a week.
‘I think because we have pushed on and expanded it has upped our visibility. Also, we hit it at just the right time with the restrictions starting to come down, so people are getting more interested in going out to stores,’ Kellett says.
The move and refurbishment, including rewiring and replumbing, cost £150,000 but the practice now has a bigger space with a more prominent position on the high street. The independent moved in February and by the end of March it added 230 new patients.
The practice's exterior storefront
Kellett says: ‘We have an iconic building that has its own style. We’ve stripped it all back to it being a sparkling new building and plastered it to get rid of everything. It’s a sleek, modern experience. Patients are looking for experiential shopping now. With online retail offering so much, if you’re not differentiating yourself then you’re a dying breed.’
He took the building back to a shell because it had been empty for several years and its front had been vandalised. He set about developing a shiny practice with a few soft furnishings to create a modern yet warm feel by using Google’s SketchUp 3D design software.
‘We spent three month shuffling things in virtual mode on SketchUp to get a feel for the way things were going to pan out in store. I think it has worked perfectly. It’s kind of like you make mistakes on a piece of paper rather than in the real world,’ he explains.
Steady growth
Kellett started his own practice seven years ago after managing David H Myers Opticians’ flagship practice in Southport for 18 years. He drew on his experience to create a vision of where he wanted to take the business but knew it would require time and money in order to expand. By starting small and steadily growing, the practice now has four times more floor space than its old site.
The practice's bank vault door
He says opening an independent from scratch in a dormant town that did not have any other optical practices was not the easiest task. ‘I knew the business inside out as an independent, so it was about trying to get a patient database up and running from nowhere.’
Justin Kellett Opticians grew by 25% every year since its inception and in the past year grew by around 200%, which he highlights is a massive leap. ‘We’d outgrown the old space. It was just a little bit too small like any start-off is. It was a nice shop, but we needed to expand and move forwards.’
A theatrical experience
At the new site an eyewear showroom has been created with flooring that draws the patient’s eye to its luxury quarter, featuring custom built cabinets to match the branding of Tiffany, Jimmy Choo and Tom Ford frames.
Kellett says: ‘We were quite forward thinking about what brands we wanted to work with and tried to build an experience for us as well as the manufacturer. We’re differentiating the stock, so that we’re not holding the same as the chain stores. We like to buy smaller amounts and often, so that we can keep stock really fresh and are not pushing the same stuff out the door.’
Mobile furniture was purchased for the dispensing areas, which means the shop fit can be shuffled and not restricted to one design. A frame of the month is displayed in order to rotate and showcase stock, which creates a new experience each time for patients.
Other design features include the retention of the old bank vault, Kellett explains. ‘You can collect your glasses in there and we have a pair of antique Chesterfield chairs. The safety deposit boxes we’ve recovered from the bank have been turned into coffee tables. We’ve lined all those with bright velvet, so the patient comes to collect the glasses and you take them out of the safety-deposit box for them. It’s a bit more experiential.’
He adds that if a patient is buying a pair of Tiffany frames, they want to have them brought to them and fitted in a nice environment. ‘It has a bit more of a theatre about it and finishes the experience. We as a team feel that you’re a coach and it’s your chance to shine, in that you’re getting their attention again for the last time before you see them again in two years. You need to sell them an idea as to why they’ve used you. It’s the most enjoyable part of the experience.’
Just like home
Kellett describes the practice’s clinical offering as relaxed, with long sight testing and chair time, which he says makes patients feel cared for. ‘We’re trying to slow everything down and let the customers have a softer, more gentle experience where their time is as valued as their money. It’s not all about the sale, it’s about the customer experience.’
Increased capacity means employing new front of house staff to help meet demand in practice, as well as with its growing eCommerce business of selling Ray-Ban and Carrera parts. Kellett explains: ‘During the pandemic, it has helped propel the business forward due to the fact we weren’t trading in practice. We managed by pushing about 800 orders out through the eCommerce site.’
Opening a practice post-Brexit and during Covid-19 created issues for Kellett who had trouble importing aluminium practice frontage that was made by a Spanish company. ‘It was supposed to land on the last week of December but ended up stuck in customs for four weeks,’ he says.
The entire process took three-and-a-half months and was delivered on budget, two days earlier than anticipated. After all that, Kellett says it is a relief that the practice feels like home. ‘We’ve definitely integrated ourselves into the building,’ he concludes.