Centennial provides uncut digital
lenses under its own house brands
of CHOICE and Centoptic, as well as
designs from some of the best-known
optical brands, to meet all of our
customers’ needs.
Transitions Optical North America
marketing. “Eyewear is a unique
product where style and health inter-
sect, so in 2018 we are going to help
eyecare professionals show their pa-
tients how the different lens colours
available from Transitions can help
them create their own unique look.”
What makes Centennial’s lens business
unique in Canada is that, rather than
being a manufacturer of one brand of
lens products, the company operates
independently but in partnership with
competitors who are also suppliers and
customers, and Centennial is in turn
a supplier and customer to competing
lens manufacturers.
At the end of 2017, Transitions Optical
created style materials that provide
eyecare professionals with tips for
finding the style in eyewear and mer-
chandising their office space to better
display eyewear options to patients.
These include the Lens Style Guide,
the Style One-Page Handout and ABO
Course presentation that can be
downloaded online by ECPs to teach
them about the latest trends, fashion
and focus on not just frames, but
lenses as well.
“The next big technological shift in
the optical industry will likely be the
application of 3D printing technology
to the production of both lenses and
frames,” says Centennial's Rick Leroux.
“While the technology is still in a
relatively experimental phase at pre-
sent, it has the potential to be a hugely
disruptive force, simultaneously pro-
viding exciting new possibilities for
our industry. Centennial is commit-
ted to continue evolving to best meet
its customers’ requirements, whether
the new technology is in the product
itself, how it is manufactured, or in
simply making it easier for its custom-
ers to order and receive the products
to best meet their clients’ needs.”
Leroux says Centennial’s aim is to
provide a one-stop source of supply and
same-day shipping for a vast range
of ophthalmic lens products and, if
24 Optical Prism | January 2018
a specialty product is not stocked in one
of Centennial’s three lens warehouses,
it can usually be special-ordered for
the customer.
In 2018, Transitions Optical is going
to continue put a focus on the style
aspect of Transitions lenses.
“The protection benefits of Transitions
lenses like filtering UV and harmful
blue light are a common topic of discus-
sion, however the style aspect of
Transitions lenses is often overlooked,”
said Patience Cook, director of
Eyewear has evolved from a functional
product to an important style compo-
nent. To help ECPs build their practice
and take advantage of the opportunities
an uptrend in style presents, Transitions
Optical created the tools to help ECPs
become more knowledgeable about the
lens style arena and provide information
on how to style Transitions lenses –
including frame and lens combinations
and colour matching.
“Patients may not be aware of some
of the options you are able to offer, like
pairing a Transitions XTRActive lens
with a flash-mirror coating to comple-
ment the different levels of tint,”
says Cook.