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What do foreign opticians think of the French eyewear industry ?

In 2009, the French Magazin "Le Monde de l'Optique" interviewed us about the french eyewear industry.

Interviewed by Marie Dominique Gasnier

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If the French eyewear manufacturers are exporting champions, this did not happen by luck. For foreign opticians they offer numerous advantages : originality, knowledge, commercial policy and a distribution strategy all of which are differ greatly from their Italian competitors

Situated in a shopping centre in the middle of Liège, Belgium, and open since 1836, the shop SA Declerck has been run by Mr and Mrs Leclerc and, since 2008, their son, Dylan. The latter, a graduate of IORT (Raymond Tibout Optics Institute) and Paris-Sud XI - Orsay University (degree in professional optics) has added optometry and contact lens to the traditional activities of the shop. A development which allows a greater development of customer loyalty to a much diversified clientele.

 

Do you work a lot with French eyewear manufacturers ?

Actuallyn we do work with a number of French brands and have done so for 19 years. Some of them offer classical collection (Henry Jullien, Louis Félix L'Amy, Jean Lempereur, etc). But we equally appréciate the collections of designers such as Lafont, J.F. Rey, Boz, Beausoleil, Karavan, Parasite, Yves Cogan and Glance of Lance .

 

In your opinion, is there a typical French style in the eyewear industry ?

Absolutely, you can always tell if it's French. Generally speaking, French models are radically different from what the big Italian groups produce, such as Luxottica and Safilo. French style displays elegance and has nothing whatsoever to do with Italian style ; as a matter of fact, that is what attracts ou clientele. Also, the average French collection is of superior quality. If you add to that good after-sales service, it is not surprising that we are delighted to work with different French brands.

 

What do you consider to be determining qualities in the French eyewear industry : the service, product or marketting ?

The service, wich on occasions is tailor-made, is excellent. On the marketting side, it is obvious that French compagnies have smaller budgets than the big Italian groups. The result, in our mind, is that the Italian brands enjoy enormous advertising coverage to be able to capture the attention of a certain type of clientele. The french brands, on the other hand, use the element of diversity ; of being completely different to what you can find everywhere. This idea of being different is to be seen even among the French eyewear manufacturers : each seems to invest a lot in design, without attempting to imitate the competition. This essential implicationn allows them to develop a strong brand personelity along with their collections. It is obvious asset for developing customer loyalty in the search for originality.

 

Are the collections of French eyewear manufacturers a good way for a Belgian optician to stand out in the market and anticipate future developments?

The French are the only ones who can still pride themselves on being "master spectable makers". Taking into account the high quality of their products, an optician can develop a commercial partnership with them. To cap it all, and contrary to the Italian manufacturers for example, they rarely impose quotas (or if they do, these are very low). The result being that the final client - without knowing it - benefits from better service from the optician who can offer him/her the ideal frame in all confidence. Indeed, an optician who feels that he has to sell frame X because he still has 87 in stock is nothing but a "Spectacle seller". He is not looking to the confort and satisfaction of the client, which should be the making of a real optician. As to the final client, he/she is delighted to wear a frame that is not worn by everybody else.