Optical boutique keeps eyes on style

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This article was published 12/06/2024 (451 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An array of honeycomb-shaped mirrors covers Kim Rosner’s eyes.

She can walk across her shop just fine — to the door, to the art pieces she’s created, to rows of limited edition eyeglasses.

There are glasses made of wood, papered with European beer cans for colour. At a different table, frames have identification numbers — there are only 100 of each design in the world.

Products come from Europe and Asia. Rosner places her mirror-esque eyeglasses back with a Japanese maker’s collection.

“This frame — the cousin of this frame was worn by (American music star) Beyoncé on her tour,” Rosner remarked.

She’s made it her mission to bring glasses not found in Winnipeg to the Prairie city. This summer marks the one-year anniversary of her solo venture, an optical boutique bearing her namesake on Academy Road.

“Honestly, I think I’m planting seeds in people’s brains for the future,” Rosner said with a laugh, talking about walk-by traffic.

Some of the designs might be too zany for them upon first glance, but give it a while — they might come back, Rosner said.

Many of her customers have followed her from her parents’ shop. Rosner, 53, has grown up in the eyewear industry, spending more than 30 years in sales and product scouting.

Not that she’d planned to follow her parents’ footsteps — she went to university for a fine arts degree.

Her great uncle was an optometrist downtown; her father, Bruce Rosner, opened Transcona Optical more than 50 years ago, and later started For Eyes Optical Boutique on Corydon Avenue.

A teenage Kim Rosner went on business trips with her family to New York. They’d hunt for new eyewear to sell.

Rosner said she’d soak in the experiences. Her mom, an interior designer by trade, sought to bring vibrant glasses to Winnipeg.

But Rosner was focused on artisanship. She sold her own jewelry in Osborne Village, and later in downtown Montreal during university. She lacked a plan after graduation. Luckily, her dad needed staff at For Eyes.

“I said, ‘Sure, I’ll come, I’ll fill in for a year or so,’” Rosner recalled. “But … his passion was contagious.”

She got her opticians licence to select lenses and frames, and she worked on the floor. One year turned into roughly 30, with 15 being spent as For Eyes’ buyer.

Rosner said she decided to launch her own store once her parents retired and their business partners took over.

“The best thing to do … would be to bring in totally new companies,” Rosner explained. “That was really hard.”

She can’t count the number of eyeglasses she personally owns. She bought frames from across the globe during the COVID-19 pandemic and, once a decided entrepreneur, began reaching out to the brands, emailing several times until they listened.

Meanwhile, she knew the owner of 485 Academy Rd. and secured her shop. KimRosner opened in August 2023.

“Eyewear is sort of the feather in the cap of every outfit,” proclaimed Rosner, a self-described personal stylist. “It should exemplify your best features.”

Facial structure, colouring and cultural background help determine the right frame, she said. She takes clients around, pulling from shelves or, if needed, from the shop’s back room. Hundreds of glasses stock the store in a given day, but just half are shown, Rosner said.

Prices range widely. Though they’re much higher than some online sources, business still booms, Rosner said.

She believed optical boutiques would die amid the rise of online-ordered prescription glasses, which has gained popularity over the past 14 years.

“In the end, it would drive a lot of business to high-scale boutiques,” Rosner said. “People realize how important it is and that you get what you pay for.”

She doesn’t view nearby optical shops as competition because entrepreneurs find their niche, she added. Some brands in her store aren’t found elsewhere in Manitoba and scarcely or not at all across Canada, she touted.

Manitoba has 89 eyeglass and contact lens stores, according to statistics from IBISWorld, an industry research firm. The eyeglass sector has a $61.9 million market size.

“Having Kim is wonderful,” said Mindy Moss, owner of the building and neighbouring business Eyelet Dove Lingerie and Swimwear.

Moss, 70, has operated her lingerie outlet for 45 years. She called Academy Road “the Rodeo Drive of Winnipeg.”

“It attracts entrepreneurs with unique fashion, with unique … products that Winnipeg won’t see elsewhere,” Moss said.

She and Rosner keep their shops’ adjoining door open and promote the other’s business. Rosner has taken space formerly occupied by a clothing store Moss owned; Moss closed it last year upon the manager’s retirement.

Now, she and the junior entrepreneur learn from one another, she said. Patricia Upstairs is a female-led operation above the two businesses. They support each other, Rosner said.

Her family works in her shop, and she takes appointments. There is no optometrist on site.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com