ORLANDO, Fla.—A broad group of optical companies from the U.S., Canada and Latin America were honored here last month as Transitions Optical closed its Transitions Academy meeting with the presentation of the Innovation Awards. It was the largest Academy meeting, in terms of attendees, in five years, the company noted.

Henry Ford OptimEyes of Detroit received the U.S. Retailer of the Year award, edging out Costco Optical and LensCrafters. The award recognizes commitment to the Transitions brand and improving patient vision.

At the practice level, Spring Hill Eyecare of Spring Hill, Tenn., was named U.S. Eyecare Practice of the Year. Associates in Family Eyecare and Lake Havasu Family Eyecare also were recognized as finalists in this category.

The Best in Training award went to Walman Optical. Walman was among a group of Best in Training finalists that included Costco Optical Canada and LensCrafters. The award recognizes their commitment to providing education in photochromic lenses and the Transitions brand.

Value Optical was honored with the 2019 Best in Marketing Award. Spring Hill Eyecare and Bonlook were finalists in the marketing category.

Professor Edward C. August of Cranford, N.J., received the prestigious Transitions Brand Ambassador title. August has been “a loyal partner to the Transitions brand for many years now and this honor is long overdue,” Transitions Optical noted.

Brand Ambassador finalists included Dr. Jennifer Chinn of Dr. Chinn’s Vision Care, Dr. Roxanne Fermin with Priority Vision Optometry, and Daniel Brunson, optician at Hicks Brunson Eyewear.

Grimard Optique received the Award as Canadian Retailer of the Year, and the Canadian Eyecare Practice of the Year title was awarded to Vision Care Centre.


(L to R) The team from Henry Ford OptimEyes accepting the Innovations Award are Steve Mehok, Michelle Neff, Toni Herron, Sarah Buckman, Adrienne Convery, Silvana Bahry, Leslie Doyle, Jennifer Block, Michael Dunn, Anthony Crowley, Chris Borton, Rich Cannon, Sarah Vogel, Jeremy Loeb and Doug Stark.



Spring Hill Eyecare’s team accepted the Innovations Award for U.S. Eyecare Practice of the Year. (l to r) Shown are Amie Robinson (lead optician), Melanie Jenkins (office manager), Tanna Carter (optician), Rob Szeliga, OD (founder/optometrist), Jan Lafleur (a Walman regional account manager), and Kay Jensen (Transitions Optical).



Walman Optical received the Innovations Award for Best in Training. Accepting the award are (l to r) Andrew Kuncel (lens product manager), Heather Dudzik (account manager), Ryan Burns (account manager), Tammy Denor (account manager), Jan Laufer (account manager), John Misrasi (account manager), Brian Green (account manager), Gretchen Cacek (account manager), Diane Dorton (account manager), Kelli Koenigsberg (field training and development manager), Robin Dimitris (account manager), Kay Jensen (Transitions Optical), Stephen Tackett (Transitions Optical), Jeff Szymanski (Walman, vice president) and Bryan Schueler (senior vice president and general manager, Walman)



Value Optical was recognized with the Best in Marketing award at Transitions Academy. Accepting the award are (l to r) Danny Jones (marketing and PR manager), Denise Francis (practice manager – Tobago), Kelly Bainey (director), Melissa Abdool (IT manager), Sasha Boodhai (optometrist) and Otis Cornwall (social media coordinator).



Professor Edward C. August of Cranford, N.J., received the Transitions Brand Ambassador award. Shown with him accepting the award (l to r, front row) are Donna August, Ed August, Chris Borton of Transitions, Kimberly Clark of Berkshire Eye Center, Lisa Buenau and her husband, Michael Buenau, of Buenau Opticians and Jeni Dykstra of Intermountain Eye Care.

Back row (l to r) are Kevin Harrison of Heritage Vision Center, John Kay of Harvey and Lewis Opticians, Paige Kolakowski of Harvey and Lewis Opticians, Chelsea Lavoie of Harvey and Lewis, Brandi Kay, Michael Frayler of Austin Ryan Optika, Justin Tenczar of Berkshire Eye Center, Mike Richmond of Park and Fine Opticians, Kelly Richmond of Park and Fine Opticians and Drew Smith of Transitions Optical.




(L to R) The Grimard Optique team, winner of the Canadian Retailer of the Year Award, shown accepting the award are Gaston Boucher (general manager), Jean-Francois Legare (sales director), Karine Bherer (opticien), Mélanie Séguin (Transitions representative) and Gilbert Dallaire (opticien)



Vision Care Centre received the Canadian Eyecare Practice of the Year Award at Academy. Shown with the award are (l to r) Dr. Kiran Ramesh, business manager Trupti Patel and Transitions representative Matt Bragg.