Sears Optical

I’ve been seeing Dr. Canida at Sears Optical ever since I moved to Indy in the 80s. We’ve gone through thick & thin together, & all sorts of eyeglass styles. Adore his wonderful sense of humor. Thorough & thoughtful, friendly & accommodating to my schedule; just can’t imagine going anywhere else & putting up with less than the best. If you don’t like the frame selection, take your prescription with you & look around. If you’re not satisfied with your eye doctor experiences, I heartily recommend Dr. Jon Canida.

It has been about three years since I began giving my business to the Castleton Square location of Sears Optical located, quite obviously, inside Sears on the second floor.
I was an optical burn-​out in more ways than one. Oh sure, I’d been to the usual optical favorites including local darlings Ossip and mega-​chain Lenscrafters along with a couple of others. While I liked (and still like) Ossip, my insurance at the time didn’t help much with their prices. I mean, sure, I could have gone to one of the lower-​end outlets in Indy like America’s Best or Eyeglass World, the latter being an outlet I’ve actually used for a second pair of glasses.
Truthfully, I was hoping to find a place that would offer me a decent eye exam and decent prices on glasses. My most recent experience at Lenscrafters had been dreadful and it just seemed like my vision was getting worse.
I had a friend who’d gone to see Dr. Canida, the main doctor at this location of Sears Optical. She’d been very happy with him and recommended I give him a try. So, I scheduled my appointment.
When I went in that first time, I kind of thought to myself «This is all rather plain.» When compared to the razzle dazzle of other outlets, Sears offers a pretty straightforward practice. The exam room is plain & simple, while their frame selection is solid but certainly lacking anything with a designer flair.
Still, it was all about the exam for me.
Having just recently had an exam from Lenscrafters where a new prescription had left me not seeing particularly well, my chief complaint was «either they screwed up my prescription or their glasses suck.»
After a couple minutes, Dr. Canida keyed into a problem with my vision that hadn’t been mentioned at that «other» place. He did a couple of other tests and finally concluded that he was positive I had cataracts in both eyes. He explained it thoroughly, didn’t charge me for the exam because it couldn’t actually be completed, and sent me on to a specialist for further evaluation and possibly surgery.
He was right. How did Lenscrafters miss something so obvious? I still don’t know. Fortunately, Dr. Canida pegged it right away, sent me to a great specialist, and within a couple of weeks I was having surgery that has improved my vision dramatically.
I’ve gone back to Dr. Canida and Sears ever since, though I won’t hesitate to look around a bit in terms of frame selection. Sears runs regular specials that are often better than even insurance will pay, while the support staff is friendly and helpful without being pushy.
I can’t quite go to 5-​stars. I’ve occasionally had concerns with the quality of their frames. While they’re quick to address problems, I’d still prefer that they up the quality on their frames a bit. Still, if you’re looking for a good, ethical and thorough doctor, they don’t get much better than Dr. Canida.