Clear Vision For the Future | Donice Bibbs

How have you managed your company during the pandemic
Although the pandemic has been challenging, it has also opened a few doors for my company. Several of my vendors and manufacturers were very lenient and has allowed us to place small quantity orders which helped us out tremendously. Usually minimum quantities were by the 1,000’s. During the pandemic, they were significantly decreased and this alone helped us survive.
The pandemic has also brought our attention to finding new and creative ways to allow our customers to physically try on glasses in-person while adhering to all of the covid safety measures. We make it standard practice to sanitize all frames using our uv sanitizer kit which up to 99.9 % of germs.

What is the most rewarding part of being an entrepreneur
For me it is most rewarding when I hear my customers react in very positive manners about the style and quality of our frame collection. To be able to get my customers “framed” in styles that they would’ve never considered had they not come to John Wesley Eyewear.
As a life-long learner, I always find it rewarding meeting and networking with like-minded professionals. It gives me the opportunity for growth and development.

How important do you feel the arts are to our community
As an small business that is family owned and operated, helping one another express themselves is pivotal in our homes and our communities. Art teaches us how to be expressive and how to communicate. Art helps to express emotions.
As a lover of the arts, fashion and music, I feel art is extremely important to our community. Art is also important to our culture. Art represents life, it brings us all closer together. Art allows us to express our individuality. Art allows us to create. We are art. It is our goal to implement the art of fashion into eyewear.

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What goes into your process of selecting your product
As the buyer for the company, I am always thinking about personality and someone’s demeanor when purchasing frames. Like what would one wear when feeling happy, sad or indifferent.
However, we break our buying process down to two seasons, Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter. We select different demographics and work with our marketing team to develop strategies and gear our campaigns towards that. Our buying process also includes selecting themes/genres, selecting materials and colors. We also focus on limited styles and limited quantities
We work with designers/manufacturers who welcomes our creative input when it comes to designing unique frames.
We research the market, evaluate trends and always rely on selecting classic and timeless frames that are always in style.

What are some things that make your company different from your competitors
We offer a variety of styles, shapes and materials. Our unique styles and limited quantities are often appealing to even the most picky buyer.
In addition, We offer our customers a complimentary personalized custom frame fit test. During this assessment, we ask several questions to determine your face shape, skin tone, hair color, etc and help select frames base upon the answers to find the perfect frame/fit for them. This takes the anxiety and worry away from physically trying on numerous amounts of frames especially those that doesn’t look aesthetically appealing on them.
We call this “Our White Glove Experience “. Every customer is given white gloves to wear while handling our frames. Our White Glove experience leaves our customers with a long lasting and positive shopping experience.
Also, Each Saturday, we host a Sip & Shop in our eyewear boutique. Each guest is offered mimosas, soda or water, light snacks, music and they get to bring their girlfriends for a fun-filled day of private shopping. It’s so much fun and our customers love it.

How can we stay in contact with you?
Fb: John Wesley Eyewear Designs
IG: John_ Wesley_Eyewear_Designs

Eyewear Boutique
10735 South Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60643
773-701-6552