Bautista siblings in Optical Shop mission

MANILA, Philippines - Siblings Hero and Harlene Bautista recently joined the humanitarian outreach mission, Bigay Linaw, organized by The Optical Shop (TOS) to mark the 25th anniversary celebration of the leading eye center.

Service to others to build better communities and a better world is truly in the heart of The Optical Shop (TOS). Instead of holding an intra-company silver anniversary celebration, TOS officials opted to share their blessings with the less fortunate by conducting an outreach program in an impoverished community in Quezon City.

Bigay Linaw was held at Brgy. Pasong Tamo along Luzon Ave. in collaboration with the city government, the Manila Central University-College of Optometry and certain civic organizations notably the Batang Quezon City Foundation headed by Hero Bautista and the Alay Kay Inay Foundation led by Harlene Bautista.

Hero expressed gratitude that the Bigay Linaw project covered youngsters with eye problems. “Natutuwa kami dahil maraming kabataan ang nabigyan ng libreng eye checkup at salamin,” Hero said.

Explaining the choice of Quezon City as the beneficiary of their charitable undertaking, TOS executive Dr. TJ Divinagracia said, “We are really Quezon City-based, and we have a long standing partnership with the Rotary Club of Balintawak in their community outreach programs.”

Hero, Harlene, as well as the whole family of their elder brother, Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, committed their all-out support to the outreach mission.

“Our Quezon City partners suggested having it in Barangay Pasong Tamo because it has the biggest number of residents needing eye care,” Divinagracia said, adding that numerous adults in the area needed reading glasses.

“This is just the first of a series. We are planning to eventually include medical missions as well,” Divinagracia revealed.

As the local authority in eyewear fashion, TOS carries a broad range of quality frames and sunglasses — from the classic to the newest models — from renowned designers worldwide.

“One of our newest products now is Carl Zeiss, another well-known brand of ophthalmic lenses that is very popular in the high-end market,” Divinagracia grants. “Carl Zeiss was a famous German lens maker whose work included the manufacture of the very best of optical instruments of all kinds, such as microscopes and cameras. The brand is also noted for its world-renowned Carl Zeiss Vision Sunlens.”

TOS also boasts of the widest inventory of optical and contact lenses in the country and a wide variety of optical accessories. Most of all, it offers a complete range of repair services that complement its products. TOS believes that efficient after-sales service is the key to excellent customer relations. Its outlets — now numbering 21, with 14 branches in Metro Manila, two in Iloilo, three in Cebu and one in Cavite — are also among the most modern and best-equipped.

TOS introduced a number of cutting edge-technology equipment that allowed it to meet make glass in just one hour without sacrificing quality. Among the high-tech equipment includes a computerized refractometer that could check visual/refractive errors in a customer in a matter of seconds, and an automated lens edging machine that enabled the clean and perfect fitting of lenses into spectacle frames every time.

TOS also put up a Plastic Lens Surfacing Laboratory, making it the only optical shop chain in the country to have such a facility. In line with the company’s fashion focus, its branches have computer-aided eyewear selectors to help customers choose the frames that give them the “right look.”

Well-equipped and well-staffed, TOS has kept on growing over the last 25 years to maintain its leadership position in the local eyecare and eyewear industry. And it continues to expand.

“We are always on the lookout for breakthroughs in eyecare and we continue to upgrade our technology,” Divinagracia points out. “But because of the huge investments required, we do this gradually and very carefully.”

Next year, TOS will open a new branch at Glorietta 1 in Makati, which, according to Divinagracia, will be their “flagship outlet.” The company is also planning to open additional provincial branches.

“From Iloilo City where we put up our first provincial outlet in 1993 and the rest of our outlets in Cebu and Cavite, we will be expanding to other major cities, such as Davao, where we will open a branch on May 12 this year and Cagayan de Oro.” he muses.

The plan, he says, is to one day have around 40 branches that will give TOS a presence in all major cities in the country. Over the next 25 years, the company will continue to expand in terms of the number of its outlets, products and services, but will do so in a calibrated way in order not to sacrifice the quality that it has always been known for. 

“However, we’re not going to rest on our laurels,” Divinagracia says. “Now that we’ve reached our 25th anniversary, the challenge facing us is how to re-invent ourselves so we can once again be the undisputed industry trend-setter.”