Wisconsin Vision, LTD Launches in Milwaukee With Group's First Downtown Location

MILWAUKEE—The group that owns and operates 23 Wisconsin Vision locations throughout the state, six Heartland Vision Stores in Indiana and Illinois, and seven Eye Boutiques in Chicago, launched a new brand, Wisconsin Vision, LTD, last month.

Located in the trendy downtown area of Milwaukee's Third Ward, the first Wisconsin Vision, LTD fits in among the hip brew pubs and boutiques with its 2,000-square-foot space in the historic Renaissance building. This represents the optical group's first downtown Milwaukee location.

Focusing exclusively on a select list of popular, upscale brands that include Ray-Ban, Prada, Coach, John Varvatos and Cole Haan to name a few, Wisconsin Vision, LTD will offer customers more of a boutique than its standard retail experience. "We're representing each brand a little stronger here," Darren Horndasch, Wisconsin Vision's president and CEO, told dba. "Rather than having a couple thousand frames we have maybe half that so we can create a store-in-store experience for each brand."

The Third Ward location will be custom designed to reflect the neighborhood's local aesthetic. "The Third Ward has been one of downtown's fastest growing housing markets and has become much more than just a destination to dine and drink. Filled with empty nesters and young professionals that live and work there, we see a diverse, growing and attractive retail market for us," said Horndasch. "We believe this market is ready for an additional choice in eyewear brands as well as the high level of lens technology and personalized service that Wisconsin Vision brings."

For lenses, Horndasch told dba, "We are collaborating with Zeiss, our primary lens manufacturer. We're creating a Zeiss experience to represent the lens brand and talk to patients about the value of various progressive lenses. Zeiss is a brand that people recognize from cameras and binoculars. This is a big hunting state, and every hunter would aspire to having a Zeiss scope."

Being in an historic building in the Third Ward required adhering to certain regulations, Horndasch explained to dba. For example, he said, "For approval from the Third Ward Association we had to make sure we were in compliance on signage. Because we can't use more than 25 percent of our window space for labeling, we couldn't do full-window clings."

Wisconsin Vision, LTD also features diagnostic devices not found in the group's typical stores. "We have a flat screen instead of a projector, an autorefactor as opposed to a traditional refractor, and we may add medical equipment such as a fundus camera," he said.

For more on Wisconsin Vision, see "Union Approved and Staffed, Wisconsin Vision Expands."