Freddie DeLaTorre has made a successful business catering to a clientele others may view as too childish.
He owns and operates Kids Specs, a new eye wear store on Lower Greenville that caters exclusively to children.
DeLaTorre has more than 15 years of experience in the eye wear business. He also owns Vision Exteriors, an eye wear store for adults at Knox and Central.
“I’ve worked at other optical stores that didn’t totally cater to kids,” he says. “There was a tremendous need for a store of this kind.”
Everything in Kid Specs is geared towards children. The store is decorated with Mickey Mouse and Barney. When a parent buys glasses for a child at Kid Specs, the child joins the store’s 20/20 Kids Club. Members receive a T-shirt, a monthly newsletter and the opportunity to receive prizes, such as gift certificates and Texas Rangers Baseball Club tickets.
Kid Specs has been open for almost three years. The store recently moved to improve walk-in business.
“We needed someplace visible,” DeLaTorre says. “A lot of parents don’t even know that there’s a children’s eye wear store out there. Greenville Avenue was just an idea place.”
DeLaTorre prides himself on the store’s “homey atmosphere” and “no pressure sales.” He runs the store himself, sometimes accompanied by wife Diana and children Ryan and Lauren.
“It’s such an unusual concept,” he says. “There’s really no one else totally dedicated to children’s eye wear.”
Kid Specs is located at 2720 Greenville and is open weekdays from 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
News & Notes
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW: We will soon see something familiar and something new when the burned-out buildings of Lakewood Shopping Center re-open.
The space formerly occupied by Café Brazil and Printing Please will be occupied by the Lakewood Bar & Grill, which is co-owned by Susan and Michael Maher and Barbara and Richard Cantillon.
Paperbacks Plus will move back into its original spot, in addition to its newest location at Skillman and LaVista.
Texas Commercial Properties, the company leasing the spaces, has not found a tenant for the former location of the Lighthouse Restaurant.
Cunningham Honored: Neighborhood resident Bill Cunningham will be honored by the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies for his outstanding sales achievement during 1993. He will attend the Topper Club convention in Aspen, Co., to exchange customer service ideas and discuss trends affecting the insurance business. Cunningham operates Bill “Bulldog” Cunningham Insurance Agency, Inc., located at 6301 Gaston, Suite 168.
