An Optical Galleria - Where Health Care Meets Fashion: Mike Valliant

An Optical Galleria: Where Health Care Meets Fashion

by Michael Valliant

Imagine you are at the beach. You are thigh-deep in the ocean when you get caught off guard by a phantom wave that knocks you down. You get back up and your prescription glasses are gone. The ones you need to drive, to see, to live. And you are stuck. That’s a reality that Bob and Niki Pino encounter regularly. And it’s why they opened the Ocean City location of An Optical Galleria.

“One of the reasons we opened the store in Ocean City in 2014 was to be able to offer a quick turnaround for lost or broken glasses,” Niki said. “With our lab on site and the ability to make glasses in an hour, we have saved so many people’s vacations.”

The story behind An Optical Galleria goes back further. Bob has been an optician for more than 39 years. When the Pinos opened their first location in Centreville in 2002, they merged their passions for eye care and art. They offer comprehensive eye exams, including diagnosis, treatment and managing eye disease. But they also recognize how important it is for people to love their glasses.

“From the beginning, we've just done things a lot different than others,” Niki said. “When we opened the Centreville store, we merged Bob’s passion for optometry and my passion for art.”

Niki graduated from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and has been in marketing and advertising since 1988. She designed each store, and

An Optical Galleria care into opening their downtown Easton location in 2018. In a field where most opticians don’t cut their own lenses or have their own labs, An Optical Galleria makes everything themselves in either Centreville or Ocean City. In addition to filling a need, being in Ocean City is also a family thing. The Pinos' youngest son, Christopher, runs the west Ocean City location. And their oldest son, Anthony, is captain of Blood Money sport fishing boat, owner of Marine Finishing Solutions and a product tester for Bob helped her build them out. An Optical Galleria. Each store is individually designed to complement the environment around it. The atmosphere simply makes you feel comfortable upon entering and feels less like a doctor’s office. Niki even takes the art aspect one step further by creating and selling her own original oil paintings in each location. They put the same

An Optical Galleria in. So we started researching making our own about three years ago,”

That's where fishing comes in. It's Niki said. a passion the whole family shares. When COVID-19 hit and they had The Pinos have watched numerous to close their physical locations, it sunglass companies get bought out was another nudge to think differby larger companies and have their ently. They dove in to creating their quality start to drop. They wanted brand, Hook Optics. to make sure they could continue to Hook Optics are made in Italy. offer their customers and clients the The Pinos partnered with Zeiss highest quality sunglasses. and created custom-colored Ther-

“Everything we do is due to ne- moForce lenses that see through cessity ~ after the latest buyout, we water and give fishermen an edge. didn’t have a brand we felt confident With Anthony as a charter captain,

An Optical Galleria rive the week of the popular White Marlin Fishing Tournament, and they sold 50 pairs that week. For now, they’ve developed eight different styles, geared toward fishing, but customers let them know they are great for driving, riding motorcycles, and everyday use. After focusing on testing and feedback through last year, this past February was the official launch of the family's love of fishing and their Hook Optics, which has begun shipknowledge of the fishing communi- ping all over the world. Hook may ty, they had to meet a high standard. have multiple meanings this fishing

“We had to create the best sun- season. glasses imaginable, so we did that by For the Pinos, pursuing their pascombining our knowledge with both sions, being of service, giving people Italian craftsmanship and German something of value and being with engineering,” Niki said. family are why they do what they

Last year, they had prototypes ar- do. The willingness to strike out and

WEAVER MAVITY SHORT ASSOCIATES, LLC

Since 1982

A full range of tax and accounting services: · Individual and Business · Estates and Trusts · Non-Profits

Call us for a consultation today!

117 Bay Street, Suite F, Easton, MD • 410-820-8400 daley_weaver@verizon.net

follow a dream goes back at least a generation further. Bob’s father, Albino Pino, left Paraguay in a Model T Ford along with a married couple in 1951. The three of them drove more than 27,000 kilometers across 13 countries. A baby was born along the way. They arrived 22 months later and settled in the Washington, D.C., area. There, he met his wife, Irene, married and raised fi ve boys in Silver Spring.

What the Pinos are doing with An Optical Galleria is an extension of the American Dream that sparked an epic journey for Bob’s father. But it’s not just about owning and running a successful business. It’s about helping people. Two of their clients were twin sisters who were in their 70s when they came in to see Bob. It was their fi rst-ever eye exam. For their entire lives, the sisters had shared their mother’s glasses. They made do for 70 years. Once they had their exams and got the correct prescriptions, they could fi nally see what they had missed for so long.

“That was an emotional day. I get choked up thinking about it,” Niki said. “Both of their faces lit up when they fi nally put on glasses with the correct prescription.” They saw a clear new world.

An Optical Galleria often uses the phrase “Come in to see what you’re missing,” and this is why their motto for HOOK Optics is “Vision Without Limits.” They want to encourage others to follow their dreams.

Michael Valliant is the Assistant for Adult Education and Newcomers Ministry at Christ Church Easton. He has worked for non-profi t organizations throughout Talbot County, including the Oxford Community Center, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and Academy Art Museum.