CENTRAL OPTICAL Daily grind is not dull for lens maker

A growing Boardman company makes eyeglass lenses that are sold in six states.
THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
BOARDMAN -- Something stirs inside Lloyd Yazbek when he walks into his optical lab.
His voice becomes animated and his steps lively. He sits down at a machine and explains how it grinds the proper curve into a hunk of glass. Then he rushes to another work station and proudly shows how that piece of glass is shaped into an eyeglass lens.
And so he goes until he's shown off the entire lab at Central Optical, 6981 Southern Blvd.
"I love it. I don't know why but I love it," said Yazbek, president and co-owner.
His fascination with making lenses led him to leave his job in 1997 as vice president of sales for DeRigo USA, a New Jersey sunglasses maker, and return home to take over Central Optical with his cousin and partner, Youngstown lawyer Richard Thomas.
Although the South Side native had a long career in sales, Yazbek jumped at the chance to enter manufacturing when Felix Fontanorosa told him he wanted to sell the business he had founded two decades earlier.
Turns out, Yazbek not only had a passion making lenses but also for building a business.
Expansion
When he and Thomas bought the business, Central Optical employed 12. The two have boosted sales 400 percent and expanded employment to 40.
The business now makes lenses for doctors and eyeglass stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, West Virginia and Florida.
Yazbek's plans don't stop there, however.
"If I'm going to be in a business, I have to be the best or I can't do it," Yazbek said.
The key to future expansion is anti-reflective coatings, which are applied to lenses to eliminate glare from lights. The coating, which is marketed under various brand names, eliminates the glare from light on lenses, allowing the wearer's eyes to be seen clearly and also allowing more light into the eye for better vision.
Central Optical spent $1 million to buy a machine that applies the coating and to prepare a dust-free room. The company moved from its former office on Market Street in April in order to have the space for the new production area and already is preparing an expansion of its new offices.
Anti-reflective coating has been popular in Japan and Europe for some time but is just catching on in this country. Less than 20 percent of all eyeglasses made in this country receive the coating.
Increased use of coating
Before April, Central Optical used another lab to apply the coating to its lenses when needed, which was 12 percent of the time.
Now that it has its own equipment, the company is applying the coating to 25 percent of the thousands of lenses it produces each day. It is acting as an outside supplier for smaller labs in the Midwest and along the East Coast.
Central Optical also is planning a marketing blitz to increase awareness about the coating and the Endura brands that it produces.
Yazbek wants the proportion of lenses with coatings to hit 50 percent next year and is planning to add more machines to handle the volume.
The company has three people working in the anti-reflective coating room now but expects that to increase to between five and eight. Another five to eight hires are expected to handle the increasing volume in the regular lab.
Another area of expansion is making prescription safety goggles for manufacturing companies, which was a small part of the business in 1997 but now amounts to 20 percent of sales.
Yazbek said this business is just to take a big leap as Central Optical prepares to add a new client that has operations in 42 states.
Central Optical will link with eye care professionals in those areas who will issue prescriptions for the safety goggles, which could lead to more business for regular eyeglass lenses as well, he said.
Looking to buy more labs
Yazbek isn't looking at just internal sales growth, however. He is in negotiations to buy two labs in other regions to expand Central Optical's geographical reach.
"In today's economy, either you grow or you die. I don't want someone to come in and steal my business. I prefer to be the aggressor when it comes to looking for new business opportunities," he said.
One thing is for sure, he said. This area will remain the headquarters for Central Optical.
"I'm sick of the bad rap we always take in Youngstown. I hate it," he said. "My goal is to show people outside this area that Youngstown, Ohio, has great people and we have a great work force."
shilling@vindy.com