THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 7, 1995 TAG: 9505050225
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
Like many eyeglass wearers, Daniel Badjue could never find clip-on sunglasses that felt comfortable or fit correctly. And buying prescription sunglasses wasn't always a viable option.
``I started wearing glasses when I was in the first grade,'' Daniel said. ``I couldn't see the chalkboard.''
What he wanted was to be able to see well when he went outside, too.
Enter Jimmy Fellows.
The owner of Eye-Tech, a Military Circle shop specializing in designer shades, was browsing through an optical trade magazine one day when he saw an item that caught his eye - both of them, in fact.
Fellows also wears glasses, has been in the sunglasses business for 22 years and knows the trouble with clip-ons and the expense of buying an extra pair of prescription glasses just to wear outside.
Although he has always stocked clip-on shades, he was never satisfied with them.
``We've carried as many as 18 styles of clip-ons and still couldn't fit 2 percent of our customers before,'' Fellows said.
``Now, we carry two styles, single and double bridge, and can accommodate 99 percent - almost everyone.''
What Fellows saw in the trade journal was an invention, the Sunclip System Edger.
It allows custom clip-ons to be cut to the exact size and shape of the wearer's glasses.
He ordered it and one day last month, after reading the manual, watching a videotape and ``just using trial and error at home'' to learn how to operate it, Fellows unveiled his discovery.
He set it up in the bright sunlight on the terrace of Bill's Flea Market at Virginia Beach Boulevard and Kellam Road and started demonstrating it.
The machine has an electric cutter and a template that sit side by side. Eyeglasses are clamped down and three styluses trace a pattern around the eyeglasses. Each cut brings the pattern being shaped by the electric cutter in the template closer to the exact size, curvature and lines of the eyeglasses. After a couple of minutes of hand filing and minute adjustments, Fellows can hand a customer his custom-cut Sunclips. They fit over glasses with two soft plastic clips.
``You can take them off and put them on five times a day without scratching your prescription,'' Fellows told one skeptical customer. ``See?''
Fellows cut out about 100 pairs of sunglasses his first weekend and answered twice as many questions from the curious.
Bill Golding wears a frame with a double bridge. He said that he had a hard time finding clip-ons.
``I've tried clip-ons, but I never find any to work,'' he said.
Five minutes later, he had a pair.
Fellows said, ``Sometimes, it might take up to six minutes but we can do most people's in three to five minutes. Ninety-nine percent, we can do. You know, you're always going to have that one percent that says, `Bet you can't do mine.' ''
Daniel Badjue wasn't part of that one percent. He was one of Fellows' first satisfied customers on the sunny Sunday afternoon.
``These are cool,'' Daniel said. ``I've had regular sunglasses before. You can't see with them after you take off your real glasses.''
Fellows, who ordered a second machine after his first weekend of success, said, ``We hope to be exhibiting at most of the local events this summer. The service will also be provided at Eye-Tech in Military Circle Mall. The advantages, in addition to saving money, are two-fold, he said. ``First of all, you don't have all that weight on the frame, all the hardware, like you do with regular clip-ons. And second, the Sunclips fit tighter and more securely over your glasses. They seal off light around the frames better than regular clip-ons,'' he said.
``In all my years of doing this, this is the best optical accessory I've come across. I'm real excited.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by GARY EDWARDS
Daniel Badjue, 11, was one of the first customers sold on Eye-Tech's
new custom clip-on sunglasses. ``These are cool,'' he said.
by CNB