Specsavers open day to celebrate 20 years in Castlebar

By Tom Gillespie

THIS Saturday marks a red letter day for Specsavers in Castlebar who will celebrate 20 years in business in the county town.

The Castlebar store directors, Niamh O’Connell and Rachel Murphy, along with Noel Meehan of Specsavers in Galway, opened the Castlebar store in 2005 with a staff of five.

Now, two decades on, they employ 17 at Unit 9, Hopkins Road, Castlebar.

To mark the milestone customers are invited to the open day when Midwest Radio will be on hand to mark the occasion.

Charlestown native Niamh recalled how it all started, stating: “Rachel and I worked together in the Galway Specsavers store and the opportunity came up for Castlebar. Rachel and I moved to Castlebar and set up the practice in 2005. Noel stayed with us for five years after which we bought him out.”

Five years ago they installed a state-of-the-art scanner that can detect eye problems four years earlier than that of traditional methods.

The hospital grade optical coherence tomography (OCT) takes over 1,000 images of the back of the eye to create an in-depth 3D image which helps optometrists see what’s going on beneath the surface.

Niamh admitted: “The introduction of the OCT was the biggest game changer in optics across the board for all practice. It is such a massive part of eye testing in the early detection of diseases.

“Up to five years ago when we looked in at the back of the eye we could only see the top layer of the retina, which is made up of about seven layers.

“A lot of problems can develop within the different layers, the most common being macular degeneration, for which there is no real cure.

“The OCT machine takes an ultra sound scan through the different layers of the retina. We can then view it and see down to the lower layers so we reckon we can pick up changes up to four years ahead of what we would have previously been able to do.”

Niamh added: “Imagine it like a cake - we can see the top of the cake and the icing using the 2D digital retinal photography, but the 3D image produced from an OCT scanner slices the cake in half and turns it on its side so we can see all the layers inside.

“OCT scans can help detect sight-threatening eye conditions earlier. In fact, glaucoma can be detected up to four years earlier.”

Rachel said the business continues to grow all the time, adding: “We have the audiology now with a new partner, Jordi Cornado-Bague. Our audiology business has grown greatly. We have hear care now six days a week. It is probably the biggest growth we have had.”

Rachel added: “The audiology also includes wax removal. A lot of people have hearing loss from all ages, but it is predominately an older clientele problem.

“The optics continues to be very successful and we are very fortunate to have patients every day and repeat customers coming to us all the time.”

Niamh added: “We are so thankful for the repeat customers because that is what has made the business. We have quite a wide customer base.

“After 19 years optician Sharlene Sweeney from Ballina joined us as a partner.”

Niamh said they also carry on a lot of corporate business. “We have a lot of the bigger companies who we go out to and we have contracts for safety glasses which has become a huge part of health and safety in these bigger companies. Eye wear has now become an essential part of the working day.

“Outdoor life has become so important to everybody and contact lenses are so handy for sport - your middle-aged man who goes cycling with cycling glasses, the hill walker who does not want their glasses getting wet, or the child who the referee tells they cannot wear glasses on the football pitch - so we fit all types of lenses for all ages. It is not just a young persons thing.”

Castlebar Specsavers proudly sponsor the St. Gerald’s Secondary School football team and the Mitchels ladies.

In November, Niamh is going on a charity trip to Kolkata (Calcutta) in India as part of Specsavers' involvement with the Hope Foundation.

She explained: “We will spend a week testing eyes of the homeless on the streets and in night clinics.

“During the open day on Saturday, which will consist of a coffee morning, any donations received will go towards the purchase of supplies which we will bring out to India.

“All of our customers are invited to the open day on Saturday when we will have some surprises and competitions.”

To mark the 20th anniversary Niamh and Rachel received a hand-written card congratulating them on the milestone from the founders of Specsavers, husband and wife team Doug Perkins and Mary Perkins, who launched the company in 1984 on the island of Guernsey.

Specsavers is located at Unit 9, Hopkins Road, Castlebar, across from Tesco, and can be contacted on (094) 9038750. Their opening hours are: Monday to Friday 9.30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.