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Ogi staff prepares a collection display to
reflect the line’s diversity, tailoring it to a
varied customer base for each trunk show.

NEW YORK—Today’s optical retailer and ECPs are rediscovering trunk shows. Business owners say they are focusing the events to deepen relationships between brands and customers. By adding awareness to a particular line, businesses hope to strengthen visitors’ loyalty to their own bottom line as well as to the eyewear brand.

Though the events vary in timing, frequency and desired nomenclature (some prefer the more fashionable “brand” show over “trunk”), there is no doubt that these presentations are making a difference—both in the minds of customers and inside the optical operation.

Trunk shows require time and preparation from every member of an optical staff. But, as economic recovery remains a work in progress, optical shops and dispensaries are finding that trunk shows are worth the effort.

ECPs are engaging the tried-and-true enterprise because it allows them to present the story behind their inventory. The trunk shows are coming at a time when consumers are interested in more than just function—they want the brand narrative that on-site sales reps are able to provide during focused, one-on-one dialogues that trunk shows generate.

Customers try on eyewear from Prada at a San Francisco Optics
trunk show featuring the collection.


Retailers and ECPs say they want patients to develop a relationship with eyewear brands. Some make a point to invite only those guests they know feel passionately about a particular designer. Using the trunk show to get individuals in for a supplementary visit, owners then use the time to expose guests to a broader range of styles, even those not permanently offered at their location.

Optical retailers and boutiques are also considering the trunk show a valuable educational tool for employees. Retailers who spoke to VM believe the relationship an optical staff develops with the featured brand events has a direct impact on sales. Because the brand and supplier company is top of mind for many opticians, they are more likely to recommend it to patients and sales of that brand will be sustained following a trunk show.

In this two-part series, VM spoke with retailers, ECPs and suppliers throughout the U.S., outlining the details of hosting a trunk show and uncovering the impact those shows have on an optical business. Following are profiles of three businesses and their experiences hosting trunk shows. 

— Delia Paunescu, Assistant Editor