EYE FOCUS | FRAMED
but always dreamed of opening my
own store. This is most likely due
to the awesome times I had when I
worked for my buddy who owns an
independent optical store in Ottawa.
Q. What kinds of products are
available at Off the Wall?
‘Off the Wall’
experience By Denis Langlois
Optician Steve Charlebois’ Off the Wall
Eyewear Emporium certainly lives up to
its name.
while his wife helps out with the behindthe-scenes
operations. The shop also
employs full-time student opticians.
A. We offer mainly European eyewear
and bring in as many Canadian
designers as possible. There is
nothing like selling quality since
it’s easy to show customers the
difference. We do carry some Asian
products, but we try to keep it to
higher-end; made in Japan and South
Korea. That being said it’s almost
impossible not to bring China-made
products, but we are very picky.
A few brands we carry are Emmeline,
Metrospec, Raen, Dick Moby, Roger’s,
Serengeti, Zeal, Catherine d’Medici,
Coco and Breezy, Miyagi, Dandy’s and
we keep a large amount of kids frames
in the store at all times. Handmade is
always nice to bring in, it’s beautiful
and more than not, the attention-todetail
and quality is there.
The optical shop in Moncton, N.B., is
renowned for its collection of unique
and eclectic eyewear, specializing in
handmade and one-of-a-kind frames.
And the shop itself is also unique, with
eyewear displayed on trendy wooden
shelves and sunglass holders with
moustaches. The shop is decorated
with funky artwork on the walls, a large
vintage velvet couch, eye-catching toys
and other items.
Customers are greeted when they
enter the shop by Charlebois’ three
weiner dogs.
“Off the Wall Eyewear Emporium is not
your ordinary optical shop,” he says.
Charlebois, who was born in Ottawa,
opened the shop in November 2017.
He runs the front end of the business,
Recently, Optical Prism spoke with
Charlebois about Off the Wall Eyewear
Emporium and his plans for the future.
Q. Please tell us about your
unique optical shop and journey
to opening.
A. We opened in the latter part of
2017 and offer unique eyewear,
prescription and non-prescription
sun, prescription swim goggles, dive
masks, contact lenses (including
theatrical lenses), safety eyewear,
prescription motorcycle goggles and
anything else we can think of that
none of the big box stores offer.
I graduated from the opticianry
program at Georgian College in 1999
and I worked for large corporations,
Q. What are your plans for the
future?
A. Going forward we would love to
have a few more stores. Nothing
crazy, just a few stores that would
strive for excellence in service,
product and community. Our values
are high on family, treating every
customer like a friend, going that
extra-mile if we can and keeping
it local. We love what we do and
it shows. Since we have opened,
it’s been a race to keep up with
the demand. It started with just
me, followed by my wife, then
co-op students, now to permanent
employees. EF
32 EYE FOCUS | September Digital 2020