Wismar in the optician frenzy: New shops conquer the city center!

Wismar in the optician frenzy: New shops conquer the city center!

In the charming Hanseatic city of Wismar, which has around 44,000 inhabitants, this year opened three new optic chains branches that enrich the shopping offer. This expansion raises the question: Is the market in Wismar already saturated? In any case, Carsten Oettle, the head of "Eyes + More", has big plans because he announced that he will open 150 new shops in Europe in the next four years. The new business of "Pro Optik" in Krämerstrasse is also a sign of growth in the industry.

With Apollo optics, which has settled in the Drewespark shopping center, the competition for customers in the field of visual aids becomes more intensive. However, smaller, owner -managed shops are optimistic. Jan-Pieter Friedrich took over his mother's business and opened another business near Ratzeburg. Maren Minks, who has taken over the management of Biedermann Optik since September 2024, offers special measurements such as the eye background screening and the eye pressure measurement.

Special services in small shops

Opportunities-managed opticians, such as the brothers Jens and Lutz Frank von Brillen-Frank, focus heavily on visual impairments and the adaptation of contact lenses. These personal approaches and the range of exclusive glasses versions as well as innovative technologies-such as the VR glasses to measure varifocal glasses-cancel these opticians from the large chains. These individual services make the small shops attractive to many customers. In the meantime, some shops, such as that of Rupert Naumann, who will close on November 30th, are planning no successor.

market development and trends

The optic industry in Germany is robust how the new industry report from Spectaris and the central association of opticians and optometists (ZVA) shows. Despite a clouded consumer climate, sales growth of 1.1 % was recorded in 2023, which means a total turnover of around 6.8 billion euros and exceeds the level of 2019 by 4 %. The demographic change and growing awareness of eye health ensure constant demand, although many people, especially in economically tense times, are more reluctant to buy new or second glasses.

Aktuels are currently wearing glasses, a signal for the ongoing growth potential in this sector. The market share of online trading remains modest, inpatient specialty shops are still indispensable. With its six owner -managed and five large chains, Wismar offers a varied shopping landscape in the area of ​​the optics. Even if it remains unclear whether the large chains or the individual shops will have the front in the long term, the challenge of the competition, which offers both large chains and small shops, huge for all actors.

In the end, it remains to be seen how the market will develop. One thing is certain: in Wismar the business with glasses and contact lenses is alive and offers the citizens a complex selection.