Elisberg Industries
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like
Decent Quality Since 1847

Raise a Glass

8/15/2014

0 Comments

 
I did one of those stupid things yesterday when traveling, and my prescription sunglasses went kablooey, one of the stems snapping off.  I browsed around Yelp today to find a place for glasses near me that repaired glasses in hopes of maybe being able to salvage them.

Three places seemed possible.  All with top-notch ratings, but I ended up settling on one because it was a) closer, b) said very nice things about a "Kathy" who worked there, and c) it mentioned that they did repairing on the spot and were fast.  And so I went there.

Good choice.  The place is Hour Glass Optical, and the mystical "Kathy," turned out to be Kathy Egeghy, who owns the place.

When I first went in, the woman who helped me said that I had two options.  They could send it out for soldering (they didn't do that there), which would cost $59 or $69, or if I could find a new frame to fit the lens, that would start at $89.  It was at this point that Kathy waltzed by and took over.  "Let me see if we have a frame for you, it would be so much better."  I'm sure it would, but I wasn't anxious to spend a minimum of the $89, I said -- when she brushed me off, "Oh, don't worry about that.  I want to make you happy.  I want you to be a customer for life.  We'll make it work."  And so she did -- finding a nice $89 frame that fit the existing lenses, and only charged $59.

We got to talking, and she's a hoot.  Warm, friendly, wildly outgoing.  And I could tell that the way she was treating me was how how dealt with everyone, as she periodically had to excuse herself to work with customers coming and and just chatting with them.  Eventually she'd return to me, as her technician worked on my sunglasses.  

She fixed my main pair of reading glasses when she saw they didn't sit properly and kept repeating how she wanted everything to be right, and for me to be happy.  

Her story is bizarre and wonderful.  The store has been there for 49 years, and she's been there for 33 of them, starting as a part-timer in school.  But at one point, she studied the Fortran computer language, which is mind-numbingly difficult, but a loopy experience on her first job (which last 3 hours and 20 minutes...her choice) let her back to One Hour Optical, where she'd been working part-time.  And with an aversion to All Things Computer.  And now she owns the place.

(The website says 28 years experience, so I can't do the math.  But that might be in this same location.  Or maybe something that needs to be fixed.  I trust the words out of the effusive Kathy's mouth...)

As I said, she was warm and personable.  At one point, she liked something I said and so threw her arms out.  "Give me a hug.  You're family now!"  I'd been there a whole 15 minutes.  Perhaps I was the long-lost cousin.  Or the Prodigal Son returning.  But I got the sense that if I had stayed there much longer, I might have become the patriarch.  Or crazy uncle.

Anyway, the frame fix was done quickly, about 10 minutes, the quality was terrific, and the atmosphere for more joyous than any eyeglass store I've ever been to.  "Come back anything, just to talk!" she enthused.

There's a reasonable chance I will...

If you live in the West L.A. area and need any frames for glasses or repair work, it's well-worth considering One Hour Optical at 12431 Wilshire, basically at Centinela.  Free parking in the rear.  Their phone number is 310-442-4617.  Or you can check out their website here.

If you don't live in West L.A....well, I figure a pleasant story about good people and a good business is always worthwhile.  Which is why I like to say nice things behind peoples' backs...
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Elisberg Industries gets a commission if you click here before shopping on Amazon.
    Picture
    Follow @relisberg

    Author

    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.



    Picture
           Feedspot Badge of Honor

    Archives

    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Audio
    Audio Land
    Books
    Business
    Chicago
    Consumer Product
    Education
    Email Interview
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Fine Art
    Food
    From The Management
    Health
    History
    Huffery
    Humor
    International
    Internet
    Journalism
    Law
    Los Angeles
    Media
    Morning News Round Up
    Movies
    Music
    Musical
    Personal
    Photograph
    Piano Puzzler
    Politics
    Popular Culture
    Profiles
    Quote Of The Day
    Radio
    Religion
    Restaurants
    Science
    Sports
    Tech
    Technology
    Tech Tip
    Theater
    The Writers Workbench
    Tidbits
    Travel
    Tv
    Twitter
    Video
    Videology
    Well Worth Reading
    Words-o-wisdom
    Writing

    RSS Feed

© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2023
Contact Us    About EI    Chicago Cubs
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like