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Once part of a widespread network of eyewear centers, Philadelphia Vision Center has spent 40 years serving the same families — even as most of its sister stores closed.

“We’re just going to keep going because our community loves us and we love them right back.”

Alan Bird, Philadelphia Vision Center

The Germantown-based small business does eye exams, makes glasses and sells contacts, and those offerings haven’t changed much since it opened in 1984, owner Alan Bird told Technical.ly. The store’s goal is simply to meet its customers’ needs, and generations of returning families have proven that model.  

“We want our customers to feel good when they leave,” Bird said, “and we want them to go home and say, ‘Hey, their prices are pretty good. They got pretty decent frames.’”

Its strategy revolves around a few key tenets. Bird said the store tries to maintain affordable prices, accepts a wide variety of insurance plans, offers walk-in service and makes glasses quickly. 

The exterior of Philadelphia Vision Center with red signage, a stone wall section, and large posters of eyeglasses in the windows.
Philadelphia Vision Center (Courtesy Alan Bird)

Anything beyond that, the store bases its decisions on requests from customers, like putting lenses into new frames, tightening screws and fixing glasses even if they weren’t originally purchased at Bird’s shop. 

The business has become a fixture for generations of customers, with entire families returning year after year, keeping business coming in the door for four decades.

Like one repeat customer who brought his nine kids into the store throughout the years, according to Bird. His son still comes in and Bird said started giving the family a discount for being such loyal customers.

“It’s really a good feeling that you know they trust us enough,” he said.

A jewelry store interior with glass display cases, wooden counters, a sign-in desk, chairs, and bright overhead lighting.
Philadelphia Vision Center does eye exams, makes glasses and sells contacts (Courtesy Alan Bird)

Generations of vision centers 

Philadelphia Vision Center started as part of a family-owned, local chain that, at its peak, included 22 stores run by Bird’s in-laws. 

Today, there are only eight left and they’re all separate entities, according to Bird, who joined the Germantown location five years after it opened.

Bird previously worked in construction, but asked his brother-in-law for a job after a serious injury. 

He eventually bought the business in 2007, and a few years ago, he bought the whole building.

Modern eyewear store interior with display cases of eyeglasses, chairs for customers, wooden flooring, and large front windows showing a street view.
Philadelphia Vision Center has been open for 40 years (Courtesy Alan Bird)

Bird plans to eventually hand the store over to manager Fifi Manning, who has worked there for eight years and is studying to become an optometrist. 

In terms of growth, Bird just wants to see the store survive so it can keep serving the community, he said. He credits the longevity of his business to mutual respect, from both his customers and the neighborhood as a whole.

“We’re just going to keep going because our community loves us,” Bird said, “and we love them right back.”