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Eyewear business sees sale surge
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Sarah Palin at the McCain Palin Rally at the Youngstown Airport
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Cynthia Tareshawty of Youngstown sports a pair of Sarah Palin glasses.
By Denise Dick
Belmont Eye Clinic is one Valley location with the Sarah Palin glasses. Cheaper versions are available elsewhere.
LIBERTY — It was more fashion than politics that drew Elaine Richards of Canfield to her new eyewear.
Richards said she needed new glasses. When she saw those of Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, on television, she set out for that pair.
The gray, rimless titanium frames worn by the Alaska governor are Kazuo Kawasaki and cost $359. The lenses cost extra.
“I thought, ‘I think that my mother had a pair like that a long time ago,’” Richards said.
She called Belmont Eye Clinic to find out if they sold the fashionable, frameless style. The business recently ordered them, and Richards went in last week, tried them on and liked them. She placed her order.
“They look so well on her,” she said. “There’s nothing political about it; believe me.”
Richards said she admires the Alaska governor but wouldn’t say for whom she voted.
Richards’ younger sister accompanied her when she tried on the glasses and plans to order a pair for herself, she said.
Gail Quinlan, optical supervisor at Belmont Eye Clinic, said she’s sold three pairs of the glasses since they came in last week.
The glasses are lightweight with clean lines and highlight the face of the wearer, she said.
“It’s not the frames you notice; it’s the face,” Quinlan said.
Belmont Eye Clinic is the only Mahoning Valley establishment where the Kazuo Kawasaki glasses are available, according to the national sales manager for Italee Optics, the Los Angeles company that distributes them.
But if your budget won’t allow a $360 hit, there are less expensive alternatives.
Suburban Vision Care, Boardman, offers a Palin-style rimless stainless steel version by Richard Taylor for $138.
The Kawasaki brand has been difficult to get, said Suburban’s Dr. Christopher Shoemaker. Plus, the Richard Taylor version is more economical, he said.
In late August, after the Republican convention, the store started getting calls asking about the glasses, Dr. Shoemaker said.
A sign in front of the business advertises the glasses while a poster of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the Democratic candidates, hangs in the window.
Dr. Shoemaker said a victory by either ticket could mean good things for the country, but he leans toward the Democratic side.
The opposing signs generate a lot of discussion in the store, he said.
It’s been good for business as it’s drawn people in. Some people come in to the store wanting the Palin glasses and end up leaving with different frames.
This isn’t the first time current events have influenced sales.
After swimmer Michael Phelps garnered eight gold medals in the 2008 Summer Olympics, Dr. Shoemaker sold prescription swimming goggles.
denise_dick@vindy.com