Hakim Optical Lab Ltd. is a Canadian optical chain, the largest privately owned optical chain in Canada. In 2016 it had about 160 stores.

Founder

Karim Hakimi Karim Hakimi (Persian: کریم حکیمی) (born 1933) is an Iranian-Canadian entrepreneur and optician, known for founding Hakim Optical, a large chain of eyeglass stores across Canada. Early life Hakimi was born in Iran. At the age of five, h ...

, a native of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, learned to make lenses from old window glass as a child. After a stint in the navy, Hakimi worked in the optical industry in Switzerland. He then migrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and opened an optical laboratory in the former Elmwood Hotel (now the Elmwood Spa) in downtown

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

.Kearney, Mark and Ray, Randy (2002): ''I Know That Name! The People Behind Canada's Best Known Brand Names'', pp. 278–279 He bought and rebuilt old equipment from a closed-down lab in Chicago. After making a variety of lenses, he began selling them to local optometrists.''The Toronto Star''
"Top 25 Immigrant Awards; Rags to Riches One Lens at a Time"
Page V6. (June 30, 2011). He soon began selling lenses directly from the Elmwood location."North Yorker Karim Hakimi named one of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrants"
''North York Mirror'', Jun 01, 2011 By Justin Skinner The company has sold over 40 million pairs of glasses. Karim Hakimi remains CEO, and runs the day-to-day operations at Hakim head office located at 128 Hazelton Avenue in Toronto. On October 18, 2008, the

City of Toronto government The municipal government of Toronto ( incorporated as the City of Toronto) is the local government responsible for administering the city of Toronto in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its structure and powers are set out in the '' City of Tor ...

renamed Lebovic Avenue in the

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

district to Hakimi Avenue. The City of Toronto does not normally name streets after living persons but made an exception in recognition of Hakimi's contributions. A documentary about Hakim Optical and its founder, titled ''Hakim: A Vision of Success'', was made for Omni Television with

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

subtitles.

Early history

As the business grew, he opened a small storefront near his home at Highway 10 and Dundas Street in 1967, enabling him to both manufacture and retail glasses. The next store was at Yonge Street and Finch Avenue, near the current Finch subway station. By 1985, Hakimi had opened 27 stores, 25 in Ontario and 2 in Nova Scotia. Many of these offered on-site, one-hour service. The chain had 200 employees, many of them newcomers to Canada. Hakim Optical has promoted its optical chain with its trademark jingle "Your Eyes Can Have it All at Hakim Optical" since 2003, which has been named by Huffington Post Canada as one of Canada's most memorable jingles and is still used.

Retail locations

On May 1, 2011, Hakim Optical opened its new flagship location at

Yonge–Dundas Square Yonge–Dundas Square, or Dundas Square, is a public square at the southeast corner of the intersection of Yonge Street and Dundas Street East in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Designed by Brown and Storey Architects, the square was conceiv ...

in Toronto which is two blocks away from the original 1967 location. In November 2017, Hakim Optical partnered with virtual reality and augmented reality agency VusionVR Inc. to expand the in-store service by offering an app that would take a customer's selfie and apply a Snapchat-like filter of the eyewear being considered for purchase. As of June 2020, Hakim Optical had 161 retail locations (including 140 one-hour factory outlets) across Canada and also operates six lens factories.

References

External links

Hakim Optical
{{Eyewear retailers Eyewear retailers of Canada Canadian companies established in 1967 Retail companies established in 1967 Eyewear companies of Canada Canadian brands 1967 establishments in Ontario