Charleston’s unique character—award-winning historic district, vibrant food scene, Gullah cultural heritage, the list goes on—has for a couple of decades now, and still counting, lured newcomers to the city’s sunny shores. And with them come some of the country’s most enterprising entrepreneurs. Folks who think outside the box, with an innovative mindset that brings a fresh approach to the table. A business model that, like Independent Optical, bucks the system and offers something new and exciting to the market. When you enter the world of Independent Optical, you know you’re in for something very different.
Founded in July 2019 by father and son team Chris Sunkin and Dr. Jake Sunkin, the boutique practice is unlike any most people are accustomed to experiencing when in need of a checkup and a pair of eyeglasses.
“My dad and I are drawn to a retro kind of Americana look,” notes Jake Sunkin, describing the vibe of the handsome Mount Pleasant property.
This is no cookie-cutter big-box outfit. Bucking the antiseptic, clinical look of the conventional vision center, the Independent Optical showroom was designed to be stylish and people-friendly. Lush wood-style flooring runs throughout a bright, sprawling space. Reclaimed Baltimore row house brick and a dusky blue wall color set a warm, intimate tone. Even the exam rooms boast brick walls; rustic barn doors glide over file closets. Most unusual is an impressive collection of vintage typewriters and old-school cameras displayed on backlit étagères, providing interest and sparking conversation.
The design of the stunning showroom has the hallmarks of a professional firm. But both the build-out and the interior design were a family project hammered out over a three-month period in the heat of the Lowcountry.
“I signed up for a free trial of architecture software,” Sunkin explains with a laugh. “I laid out the floor plan and then sent it to our actual architect. I expected that they would change everything and say this is wrong, but they basically said this is good and just made a few structural tweaks.”
Everything from the cabinetry to the exposed brick walling was engineered by the father/son team. “We had a pretty clear picture of what we wanted aesthetically,” says Sunkin. “And given the amount of work we would have put in to find these specific things, we said, let’s just make it. It’s been a work in progress, particularly with the décor. The cascading plants, the knickknacks. People love the look. It’s very nostalgic.”
Sunkin describes the vision they had as a cozy, mid-century library. “I think that ties into the eyewear,” he says. “People think of reading glasses, books and typewriters—they all kind of go together. The cameras—obviously I have an interest in optics, and I learned all about aperture and exposure, depth of field in optometry school. It’s a fun little hobby that slows you down; it feels good to have something that’s not so instant. I’m an analog guy in a digital world.”
An Ohio native, Sunkin received his Doctor of Optometry (OD) from Nova Southeastern in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and says health professionals run in the family. An aunt was an optometrist and a sibling a pharmacist.
“I always knew I wanted to do something healthcare related,” says Sunkin. “I worked in my aunt’s office through high school and college. I liked the versatility of optometry. There’s the technical aspect—ocular disease, corrective lenses—and then you have the flexibility to be a business owner, the fashion aspect of the frames. You’re flexing different muscles.”
Sunkin and his father also collaborate on the selection of craft eyewear Independent Optical showcases. Their approach—opting for high-quality frames, ethically produced by people, by hand—is a response to the mass-produced pedestrian eyewear sold in big-box eyewear stores and doctors’ offices across the country.
“The overarching thing is, when we bring on a frame line, we want it to add something new to the collection,” says Sunkin. “Tom Davies is our biggest-selling line. It’s approachable, a very timeless style, nothing loud. It really suits the Mount Pleasant aesthetic—it’s conservative and clearly high quality. We contrast that with a brand like Eyevan. Its frames are high-quality titanium and acetate, made in Japan for the Japanese market. It’s preppy, a bit retro, with very fine attention to detail. Then we have Ørgreen—a sleek, cool Danish line that’s very minimalist with bold coloring—they have staff that invent proprietary colors. We carry Anne et Valentin. It’s French, very bold and artistic, unusual shapes. When we brought it on, we didn’t expect it to be as popular as it’s become—these avant-garde frames are competing with Tom Davies. It’s super exciting. The reason we’re here is to offer alternatives to the standard frames out there. Something people have never seen before.”
From conservative to quirky, Independent Optical’s goal is to offer a collection of highly curated eyewear that appeals to all kinds of clients. “We have those frames that look good on everyone,” Sunkin notes. “They’re really classic and simple, and then we have the ones we love the most, that are only for one person, and they’re going to wait here for that one person to come in and find them.”
Prioritizing quality time spent in the exam room is another way that Independent Optical sets itself apart from the industry standard. “We are strategic about how we schedule our patients,” Sunkin explains. “I give myself an hour block, and a lot of the time is spent in conversation, understanding what a person does to inform the best option for vision correction. It’s all about how we can make the optical device they’re going into work best for what they’re actually using their eyes for in the world.”
And unlike most other practices, Sunkin says he conducts the entire exam himself. “I like the process of going through the whole thing together, and you always pick up small things throughout, so the more time I spend with a patient, the better,” he says.
With its focus on custom-tailored service and curated eyewear, Independent Optical offers a unique option for eyecare in the Lowcountry.
Wendy Swat Snyder is a Charleston-based freelance writer (sweetgrassandgrits.com).
