Sixteen years after he opened his opticians on the main avenue in Quarteira, Dr. Juan El Khoury’s business is still going strong. What allows him to have such a wide variety of customers has to be his multilingual skills, coupled with his pride in individual service.
Individuality has to be the buzzword for Visão Plus, where Dr. Juan feels that everyone’s eyes are different, and that both time and care should always be spent on finding the right lenses and frames.
He is an optometrist from Belgium, where he grew up and received his degree. After finishing his studies, he decided he wanted to travel because he had always been interested in discovering different cultures and languages. He spent time in Kinshasa, in Africa, but due to a severe political situation, he felt it was safer to return to Belgium. Soon after, he moved to Portugal, where he resided in Lisbon and Porto before deciding to flee to the warmer climate of the south. The Algarve region was still developing, but he foresaw a market, which has kept him in business.
Dr. Juan claims that his success lies in his ability to treat each customer as an individual, and believes that if you love your job as much as he does, then this joy will rub off on customers and, if you are work-proud, they will always come back.
Visão Plus boasts an array of technology for eye care and analysis, specialising in low vision, which allows people with very poor eyesight to see 50 per cent more, immediately. He does preparations for laser treatment and his machines can detect glaucoma in its very early stages. He has developed his own invention to measure vision, which he won an award for, and is currently devising a new product for people with chronic dry eye conditions.
Many opticians today describe the industry as stable, after a slump with the huge popularity of laser surgery. There was less demand for regular eye tests and, of course, the production of glasses. Dr. Juan did point out though that some people still needed glasses even after surgery, so he feels confident that the progress of technology will not hinder the industry.
He is currently promoting new, soft, daily contact lenses and anyone who purchases them from him will not only be sold them at a very competitive price, but will receive a free gift, while stocks last. For anyone who is anxious about language barriers, rest assured that Dr. Juan and his team will make you feel welcome in Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, Dutch and German.
• To book an appointment at Visão Plus, call 289 301 786, or just drop in and have a look at the great choice of sunglasses in the shop, located in the Avenida Francisco Sá Carneiro, Quarteira. You are guaranteed to receive top quality specialist eye care!
