Bullock's The Eye Opener

Gary and Leslie Bullock, the longtime owners of Bullock’s Eye Opener, relocated their optical shop to the swank Arbutus corridor in August 2014, following 22 successful years in the Arbutus Mall. When that building was slated for demolition, loyal clients begged the couple not to move their business too far away.

Gary’s career in the optical business began at just 13 years old when his father, an optician who worked at Vancouver's iconic Woodward's department store for decades, started bringing him along to work on Saturdays to help clean the machines. “One day Dad said, 'surface these lenses' and I did.  That’s how it began," Gary recalls. “I love glasses and working with lenses. It’s in my blood!”

At that time, the process of making eye glasses took about 20 people to block, edge, surface, clean and perform the many other steps involved. Now it’s all done by machine, but Gary had the privilege of learning the full process, the human way. “Making eye glasses is an art form – at least it was back then,” he smiles.