IcareLabs Blog

In 2015, Essilor launched the Eyezen+™ lenses giving patients across the world a better alternative to traditional single vision lenses in prescription glasses. These lenses are geared toward the modern digital lives of your pre-emerging presbyope patients to help provide eye relief due to eyestrain.

While it's hard for me to admit, this year I reached the point in my life where my phone, tablet, and computer became a challenge to see thanks to small fonts. I started noticing at the end of my work day my eyes were tired and I had to come to grips with the reality that I needed help. In what seemed like overnight, I had become a pre-emerging presbyope. 

Kodak Lens recently released their newest version of their popular Unique lens with the Kodak Unique DRO progressive lens.

Building upon the ever change needs of modern presbyopes, reading habits continue to increase the time spent on mobile devices. Hours a day are spent using cell phones and tablets on social media, news, shopping, and driving directions. 

The Kodak Unique DRO uses Dynamic Reading Optimization (DRO) that helps enrich and enhance the reading area.

Following the breakout success of the Transitions Style Colors and Transitions XtrActive Style Mirrors and building up to the release of the new Transitions Gen 8, Transitions Optical has launched an exciting new Eyecare Provider (ECP) tool that can help your patients.

The Eyeglass Builder is a free website for your practice that can help guide your patients to the lenses and frames that will best fit their vision needs and lifestyle.

This pre-built website can even be customized with your practice's branding and contact information to help drive even more business through your doors.

IcareLabs was founded in 1968 with the mindset that we should be able to offer our customers the widest possible variety of lenses and services at the best possible prices. Over 50 years later, that sentiment is as true today as the day we ground our first pair of lenses!

One question I hear often from customers is "What makes IcareLabs different?"

KBco mirror lenses can help give your practice the consistent colors and selection your patients want. Unlike traditional mirror coated lenses, KBco mirror lenses come as a semi-finished blank which allows for consistent colors. As the lens blanks come already mirrored we are able to process these  2-3 days faster than traditional mirrors.

This gives you a high quality polarized mirrored lens that is consistent should you need to remake just one lens down the road. 

Kodak Lens has the tools to help you update your office while increasing your average selling prices by combining the strength of the Kodak brand with eye catching displays, signage, and an in-store “Educational Center”.

The Kodak Lens Educational Center is the centerpiece of the Kodak Lens Corner program. The two-sided educational display offers you a freestanding hands-on demonstration tool helping to engage patients. Patients are encouraged to pick up each frame and demo the effects.

The six, eye catching bright red frames demo no-lines, non-glare, advanced blue light protection, Transitions, high index materials, and polarized.

Transitions Signature 7 lenses made leaps and bounds over Transitions VI which launched a new era of photochromic lenses for patients to enjoy. Now the new Transitions Gen 8 is poised to revolutionize the industry once again!

(As of July 10th, 2019 Transitions Gen 8's first wave has launched, CLICK HERE to visit our recently updated blog post featuring the availability chart and more!)

Building off of the massive success of last years new Transitions 7 Style Colours and XtrActive Style Mirror options, your patients will now have the latest technology behind their new favorite pair of glasses.

Coupled with Essilor's Next Gen program that will help increase your optical sales through second pair purchases, 2019 can be your practice's best year yet!

Let's take a look at the roll out:

 January 31st marked the end of the wildly successful Ultimate Lens Package from Essilor of America.

On February 1st, 2019 the new Instant $100 launched which builds off of and improves an already successful formula. Now your patients will have more options than ever, and you can help increase your revenue like never before!

On top of that, the patients themselves will have the power to redeem their incentive INSTANTLY! This is the promotion the delivers patients, not paperwork!

(BLOG UPDATE: The Instant $100 promotion ended at the end of 2019)

With over 50 years of doing business, Icarelabs labs has seen its fair share of changes. No other year has seen more changes than 2018. On May 17^th, 2018 we celebrated or 50^th anniversary and made sure we purchased some great gifts for ourselves in the process.

Along with this fantastic milestone we went too 100% digital processing by adding an additional 3 digital generators and multiple soft polishers.

These upgrades gave us the ability to process even more digital designs than ever. We also introduced our second line of house-branded digital progressives in 2018. Always with a thought to our past as we press forward, we felt there was no better name than Heritage.

We all know the end of any year tends to be one of the busiest times for anyone in the optical industry. It can get a bit crazy between the holidays and patients trying to cash in their vision plans before they reset.

Now that has passed, many practices are seeing their lab bills in a new light and most likely thinking about how they can lower that bill so they can increase their bottom line without sacrificing the quality products that their patients have come to expect.

Just like your New Year's resolutions, there is no better time than the first of the year to take an objective look at what your current wholesale optical lab is doing for you and if there is any room for improvement.