For some, glasses are a need – but there’s no reason they can’t be stylish.
Chris Tsiplakos, who recently opened The Optical Shop of Manhasset, wants to solve the disconnect between outdated eyewear stores and fashion-forward consumers.
“It’s one of the only industries where medical and fashion meet, and a lot of people aren’t very fashionable that are running these types of stores. I feel like I have a little bit more knowledge on both ends.”
Tsiplakos, an optician, opened the shop last month with a selection of brands like Jacques Marie Mage, Lafont Paris, Céline, Oliver Peoples, Lindberg, Lool, Lapima, Akoni and Tsiplakos’ own glasses line, Native Ken. Tsiplakos fits, alters and repairs glasses to fit his customers.
“I consider myself an optical nerd,” Tsiplakos said. “Making a pair of glasses for somebody and seeing how they see afterwards and the reactions you get from them is kind of like what I enjoy the most.”
Tsiplakos, 38, said his age makes him unique in the eyewear space.
“There’s nobody really opening new optical stores that are my age or younger. It’s usually older optometrists or older opticians or their generational stores where they’ve been handed down from father to son or daughter.”
The shop will have a digital optometrist, according to Tsiplakos. Tsiplakos will do the pre-testing and screening, he said, before his machinery allows the doctor to control the appointment from a different location.
“We have a system where an optometrist comes up on a screen remotely and controls all the machines in the room from a different office,” he said. “So we have access to having a doctor at any given moment. We could have somebody on standby at all times.”
His eye for looks helped him design the store’s modern yet warm interior. The space has navy and muted orange walls, white marble-printed shelves and a sitting area complete with plants and a cowhide-style rug. He said he designed it without blueprints or drawings from architects.
“I have a good eye for nice things and nice styling,” he said. “I just put it together in my head and worked with my contractor to place everything.”
Despite being fashion-focused, Tsiplakos said his new shop doesn’t cater to a specific demographic.
“I’ve sold glasses to a seven-year-old kid, and I had a 90-year-old woman pick up her sunglasses this afternoon,” he said.
Tsiplakos first opened an optical shop in Manhattan in 2010, which carried big brands like Ray-Ban and Oliver Peoples. Though he carries some large brands at his new shop, he said he is trying to curate a unique collection that can’t be found anywhere else.
“I try to steer away from those brands at this new location – A, because there are a couple of other retailers nearby that sell them. And B, it makes my life a little bit more fun, rather than seeing the same stuff over again,” he said.
In 2016, he transitioned that store into a Native Ken flagship that only carried Tsiplakos’ own line.
“Native Ken is really classic, timeless New York eyewear. A lot of New York styling goes into it, just with a little bit of a modern twist,” he said. “Whether that’s the colors or just slight changes to shapes and sizes, we try to keep it timeless and classic, just with more of an updated edit to them.”
Tsiplakos closed the retail space in 2019, instead turning the business into an eyewear concierge service in which he visits New York City-based clients to hold one-on-one fittings. But he also wanted to open a business outside of New York City, and decided it wasn’t “beneficial or smart” to only feature his own brand, he said.
“I’m an eyewear fan as well. I do admire other brands, and everybody has a different aesthetic and a different design approach,” he said. “I do my purchasing based on what’s most different from what I offer in my collection. I try not to have two brands that overlap where they’re competing against each other.”
Chris Tsiplakos’ brother, Tom Tsiplakos, also has a new business on Plandome Road. Tom Tsiplakos is a co-owner of Angie’s, a coastal bistro that will replace Publicans. Angie’s is slated for a December opening.
Tom Tsiplakos also co-owns For Five Coffee, a luxury coffee roaster & cafe chain that opened its first Long Island flagship in Manhasset in 2018, with additional locations in Port Washington and Garden City.
Chris Tsiplakos said the brothers are heavily involved in the Manhasset community.
“Everybody knows everybody, and it’s pretty cool just to be a part of how everybody’s so supportive of one another,” Chris Tsiplakos said. “It’s a really nice community to be a part of.”
The Optical Shop of Manhasset is located at 376 Plandome Road.
