Business partners Carmen Lazinchuk and Dr. Kelsey Marwood may have come from opposite sides of the country, but it has been their desire to bring affordable eyecare to patients that has brought them together right here in Barrie.
Lazinchuk and Marwood own and operate Specsavers, located inside Georgian Mall in the city's north end. They celebrated their new partnership with an official grand-opening celebration on Monday.
Lazinchuk is an optician who originally hails from a small town in British Columbia before relocating to Ontario in 2011, while Marwood, an optometrist, grew up just down Highway 400 in Bradford.
As women under the age of 40, the pair say they jumped at the chance to own their own business in partnership with Specsavers.
The Barrie location is one of more than 2,300 locations across 11 countries. The business, which was founded in the United Kingdom in 1984, is relatively new to Canada, having opened its first location in 2021. Each Specsavers is locally owned and operated by licensed health-care providers within the community.
Lazinchuk initially got involved in the field for one simple reason: she wanted to help people. It was while perusing the course guide for Georgian College that she stumbled upon the program that would take her life in a new direction.
“Nursing wasn’t really calling to me, and glasses seemed really interesting. It was something I fell into quite naturally,” she told BarrieToday.
Marwood, meanwhile, used to think visiting the eye doctor was a pleasure while growing up.
“When I was a little kid, I always enjoyed having my eyes checked. I thought it was a lot of fun and I always knew I wanted to work in the medical field, but none of the other positions seemed that desirable," she said. "I wanted a good work-life balance and I wanted to work in a more uplifting, positive environment and that’s what I found in optometry."
Although both have worked in the field for several years, they officially partnered last month.
“Kelsey and I officially partnered June 12, so this was a celebration of our partnership,” Lazinchuk said of Monday’s event.
Specsavers is built on the idea that eyecare should be available to everyone, she added.
“Part of this belief comes with the marriage between eyecare and the eye-wear part,” Lazinchuk said. “Specsavers kind of joined us together in that regard and I think it’s a wonderful joint venture they have going on to get people together like this.”
“I really appreciate the value you can get here," added Marwood. "One thing a lot of offices don’t have is the technology. Those are diagnostic, gold-standard tests, and when they do, they charge patients like $90 just to have that test done.
"At SpecSavers, those are included in the $99 eyecare fee — and are free for children and seniors who are covered under OHIP anyway. We don’t charge anything additional," she said. "That makes a really big difference in treating patients because you can get down to the nitty-gritty before any issues arise.
“It’s essentially early diagnostics and sets (us) apart from most, if not all, other companies. The goal is affordable eyecare ... and keeping the quality just as high as the $1,200 glasses you’d get somewhere else.”
