LAGOM OPTİK
Stady and Accurate
Silmo Istanbul is growing each year with a larger service area and number of exhibitors, increasing the opportunities to follow innovations in the sector and establish collaborations.
Hello Mrs. Ece & Mr. Melih. First of all, could you introduce yourself a little bit and tell us about how your path crossed with the optical industry?
Ece Derman: Hello, I was born in Bursa in 1987. My career, which started with my business administration education, continued for 12 years in visual management positions in two different global retail stores. Inspired by my husband’s experience in the optical industry, I decided to open a new chapter in my life. Together with my husband, we studied and graduated from the opticianry department. We opened our own optical store in April 2023.
Melih Derman: Hi, I was born in Bursa in 1987. In 2010, I started working in a local optical store in Bursa and gained my first experience in the sector. During the 13 years I spent here, I gained in-depth knowledge about eyeglass models, lens technologies and customer needs. In this process, I closely followed the developments in our sector and tried to master new technologies and trends. We serve our friends and customers in our newly opened store.
Could you tell us about the establishment phase of Lagom Optik?
In our founding philosophy, we wanted to adopt a different approach from commercial stores by emphasizing that health and fashion are inseparable in the eyewear industry. We see those who visit our store not only as customers, but also as people who come to get support and help from us. In line with our goal of creating a concept store that combines health and fashion in a sector where visuality is at the forefront, we aim to provide excellent service in our store by combining modern technologies with the best quality. We also use innovative technologies such as computer-aided digital focusing machines to offer customized solutions to the needs of the people who seek our support.
What are the most sold optical and sunglasses brands in your store?
It may not be the right approach for us to distinguish the most sold brands in our store because every brand is really valuable for us. In our store, regardless of the brand, we try to direct the person to whichever eyeglass model that suits the person’s face and is comfortable in terms of health and comfort. Because our brand preference can also change according to the budget and wishes of the person. That is why we offer a wide collection of optical frames and sunglasses. Tom Ford, Prada, Miu Miu, Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani, Burberry, Moschino, Dsquared2, David Beckham, Ray-Ban, Garrett Leight California, Yohji Yamamoto, Oliver Peoples, Kaleos, Mooshu, Vanity Effect, Snob Milano, Kyme, Mykita, French Retro, Entourage Of 7, Markus T, For Art’s Sake London, Vycoz, Frank Custom, Hally & Son, UDM Unique Design Milano, Movitra, Bust Out, Projekt Produkt are some of the brands we can give examples.
Do you include products from every segment in your store? How do you think having different product segments reflects on your sales?
The name of our store Lagom is a Swedish word and it means “Not too little, not too much. Just accurate”, in short, it means “balanced”. It is important for us to reflect the art of balanced living to our product diversity in our store. We include products from every segment in our store. We address different customer needs by offering a wide range of products.
How do you inform your customers about the changes and campaigns in your store?
As Lagom Optik, we announce the changes and campaigns in our store to our customers mainly through social media and we attach importance to this. We share the campaigns and in-store innovations we organize through our Facebook and Instagram pages, and interact with our customers by sharing information about new glasses. Thus, we aim to increase customer satisfaction by providing fast, effective and up-to-date communication.
Street stores or being located in a shopping mall? What is your preference and what are the reasons?
Actually, street retailing and shopping mall retailing do not fully fit our store. Our first priority was to add a unique character to our store by getting away from the classical optical store culture and to prepare an environment where we can keep the energy high. Our location is one of the busiest main lines of Bursa, that is, a location where pedestrian traffic is low but vehicle traffic is intense. Our reason for choosing this location was to provide the best service to our friends and customers who come to our store to shop by spending the energy we save by preventing possible loss of time. We preferred to increase visibility by adapting our store to the inner city rather than the pedestrian traffic. Although these are contrary to the classical understanding of retailing, we have a large parking lot for our customers who come by car and we are within walking distance to the metro line in our city for our customers who want to come by public transportation. In this way, we have the advantage of providing easy access to our customers and integrating our store into the city life.
As a retailer, what are your views on the price competition between you and your colleagues?
As Lagom Optik, we are aware that price competition is important in the retail sector, but our priority is always to provide good and impeccable service. Maximizing customer satisfaction and providing a shopping experience supported by quality products and expertise is our priority.
Are in-sector sales and training briefings sufficient? Do you organize training programs for your store employees?
As Lagom Optik, we manage our own development individually. We actively use various online resources and industry information to follow the changes and innovations in the optical sector and to understand the developments in the sector in order to provide the best service to those who prefer our store. We constantly update and improve ourselves by participating in various online trainings and sectoral events. We also ask our authorized friends from optical lens companies to visit our store periodically and make presentations about lens technologies. In this way, we keep our knowledge fresh and acquire new technological information. We focus on increasing our knowledge and skills to make our store more competitive and to offer the best optical experience.
How would you evaluate the 10th Silmo Istanbul Optical Fair with its new and larger service area?
As Lagom Optik, we see the developments and growth in the 10th year of Silmo Istanbul Optical Fair very positively. The growth of the fair with a larger service area and the number of exhibitors every year increases the opportunities to follow the innovations in the sector and to establish collaborations. By bringing together the dynamism and innovations in the sector, the fair inspires us and guides us to provide a better service to our customers.
Thank you very much for this valuable interview. Finally, could you give us your comments on the transition of our magazine 4 youreyes to digital publishing?
The transition of your magazine to a digital platform has the potential to offer a faster and more interactive experience to your readers. We wish 4 youreyes a strong presence and continued success.
March 2024