Sholé Eyewear Reopens on Via de la Paz

By DAYNA DRUM | Reporter

Elevator rides can be uncomfortable, but sometimes they can also lead to lasting friendships.

For Arvin Haddad and Ben Ohana, it not only resulted in a friendship but a business partnership.

After almost a year-long hiatus, Sholé Eyewear reopened its doors on Via de la Paz at the beginning of November and the new partners are intent on shaking up the eyewear industry with an innovative concept.

Initially, Haddad owned the two Sholé locations—the other in Beverly Hills—by himself. Then on Christmas Eve of last year, the Palisades location was burglarized. Over 90 percent of the inventory was taken, leaving the empty store with no choice but to temporarily shut its doors.

Haddad knew he wanted to do something different after that.

“Maybe it’s because we got burglarized that we thought let’s put a better foot down and give back to the community,” Haddad told the Palisadian-Post.

Rather than marking up the cost of optical lenses to make a profit, Sholé sells its lenses at cost. In addition, they offer a two-year program that allows customers to replace their lenses if anything happens to them or if their eyesight changes.

“This business model is quite aggressive and risky. We are really taking a leap of faith,” Haddad said.

But the new concept wasn’t enough. The young entrepreneur also brought on his new business partner. Haddad met Ohana in 2004 in the elevator of their Boston building, where the two bonded over their interest in remote-control helicopters and the Boston nightlife.

Ohana currently lives in Paris but plans on moving here to develop the business once the current school year ends for his two children.

“I was very seduced by Arvin’s concept because it’s what we have in France,” Ohana said.

The Palisades location is a sort of testing ground for the pair’s new concept.

“We have a very special attention toward the Pacific Palisades location where we believe if this concept would work in the Palisades then it’s able to work at a lot of other neighborhoods across America,” Haddad said.

In a market that is as saturated as the eyewear industry, Haddad and Ohana are focusing on customer service as one of their driving forces of business. Haddad explained that one of the reasons for poor customer service at eyewear stores is the monopoly of certain brands at different stores.

“We felt like the Palisadians didn’t have enough options,” Haddad said.

The company website showcases a series of humorous ad videos that make fun of the typical experiences customers have at eyewear stores. The casted store manager is a loud, aggressive salesman who won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

The Sholé Palisades manager Trey Caldwell is the antithesis of the video’s actor, Haddad laughingly said.

“He’s very helpful to people. When people come into the store right now to fix something, he’s just going to do it,” Ohana said.

Caldwell has been an optician in the Palisades for the past seven years and is the face of Sholé to the community since he is already a part of it.

Haddad plans on moving his family to the Palisades eventually because he is already so invested in the community.