Óptica Martínez

Brand

Óptica Martínez

Client

Andrés Martínez and Cristina Domínguez

Place

Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain

To shape a new concept of optical store

Starting from a situation of local leadership, devise an innovative optical store concept that would improve the quality of life 
of the Pontevedra citizens when buying glasses

The starting point

Without a purpose, succeeding is more difficult.
And the main route to identify it is to have a deep knowledge of the customers. 

For this reason, the key segments were defined, paying special attention to detecting their main life-related pain point when buying glasses.

An evocation research showed that when people think of optical stores, the provoked feelings are very functional, not sensory at all and without any positive symbolism. Many people said that they visit one only when they can no longer see properly.

Create a new shopping experience 
where customers should not feel like patients 
with a vision problem that needed to be resolved. Instead, they should experience a deep feeling of wellbeing.

The idea

The project team decided that, instead of an optical shop, the new place should look like a family home

Specifically, the Martínez opticians’ family home.
And, being located in Pontevedra, this ‘home’ should reflect that characteristic slow lifestyle that is so inherent to this city

Outcome

As a result, when approaching its exterior, visitors can already feel like they are about to enter a family home.

In fact, the shop front doesn’t have any shop window

Once inside, customers can move around the different ‘rooms in the house’. And each one is like a different chapter in a novel.

There is a ‘reception hall’ where a member of the family pleasantly greets them and invites them to go in.

Then, there is the ‘living room’, with comfortable armchairs where they can relax and chat about what they need or are interested in.

There is also a ‘library’ where pairs of glasses are displayed inside frames, each of them with its different style, as if they were pictures. There, visitors can also find a few books and other elements suited to the room.

The ‘kitchen’ is a place where, apart from having their glasses fitted, the guests can sit down and have something to eat or drink while chatting with the person that adjusts their frames, as it contains a fridge and a bar with a few stools.

The corridor leading to the ‘home offices’, where professionals check their customers’ vision, has little to do with a traditional optician’s. The works of art on the wall – created by local artists – and the potted plants make visitors feel at home.

A charming internal patio, where the little ones play safely while adults are being attended, completes the house.

Within this play script, the most cutting-edge optical technological machinery is included in order to offer the most reliable optical service and care possible. But always avoiding that medical mood that many people find frightening.

Project partners

We teamed up with the incredible managers of Óptica Martínez, led by Andrés Martínez and Cristina Domínguez.

At m+f=!, we co-shaped the concept,
guided its application in the creation of the optical store 
and accompanied its application.
The main external collaborators were:

• Stuco – architecture and interior design
• Instalaciones del Río – lighting