Cohen’s Fashion Optical has revamped its original Lower East Side location into a new concept store.
NEW YORK—A fixture of Manhattan neighborhoods for over 85 years, Cohen’s Fashion Optical is reviving its legacy with the restoration of its first store. The landmark original shop on the corner of Orchard and Delancey Streets on the famed Lower East Side of Manhattan, has undergone a compelling makeover in the burgeoning neighborhood. The 130 location retailer has taken its heirloom outpost and redeveloped it with a new retail environment design and deemed its new in-house eyewear collection, The Collective, to reach out to a new and youthful market.
Noting eyewear’s evolution from a medical device to a fashion accessory, as well as the emergence of online shopping and new customer attitudes, the company said it is embracing the spirit of founder Jack Cohen, who operated a pushcart business in the area and opened this first NYC fashion retail location, into a new concept pop-up shop highlighting the collection to target tech-savvy, stylish, independent and youthful customers. The redesign of its original store features a new façade, custom fixtures, lighting, tables, displays, furnishings and encourages interaction with product. The store celebrates the resurgence of our Lower East Side neighborhood, including a replica of the original, exterior Cohen’s Fashion Optical sign.
“The Collective” is the concept and it’s been developed into a
private label collection targeting Millennial customers.
“The Concept Store allows us to experiment with new products and is a vehicle to reach a younger audience with an on trend $99 entry level collection, including our standard eye exam at Cohen’s level quality,” said Bob Cohen, president. “We wanted to acknowledge the bygone days when my grandfather first sold eyewear out of a handcart on the street, returning to the feel of a local shop, a neighborhood approach that has always been signature to our family business, yet still make it relevant by today’s standards of business and marketing.”
The new Collective range offers a complete vision care package: frames with polycarbonate lenses and an eye exam for $99. The frame collection includes styles inspired by Cohen’s very first frame, with over 50 different frames that will appeal to young adults, college students and emerging professionals who need prescription eyewear, are looking for fashionable frames, and can afford them for the first time, the company said.
The concept store and The Collective are also being accompanied by a revamped Cohen’s website and the introduction of a new C blog and new graphic images to highlight the modern tone of the collection and social media outreach. Sheila Haile, chief marketing officer for Cohen’s, told dba, “The new house brand will be tested at the new store and then, ideally, will be rolled out to specific stores that have the appropriate target audience. The marketing for the brand was developed to be easily translated into any store’s footprint.”
Of the C blog and the content on that site, “We have several brands on the calendar and multiple new features we are launching. Of particular interest: Behind the Lens: a 1-1 interview with insiders. First up is Jane Larkworthy from W magazine. Another new section is ‘Visionaries on the Rise’ which takes a look at people under 25 who are doing extraordinary things. ‘Visionaries’ see the world not as it is, but as it could be,” she explained.
“My grandfather envisioned an environment where he would help people see better and look better, too,” added Cohen. “We have never wavered, but we have invested even further in his vision and we are proud to evolve it in a way that matters today.”
Founded in 1927, Cohen’s Fashion Optical today operates 130 franchise stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Cohen’s is one of the top 10 optical retailers in the U.S. and one of the longest operating optical franchise companies in the country.