Rob & Sue, and forty-nine years of frames.
One shop, one family, three names — Fashion Tints, then Cascade Optical, then the boutique it is today. The craft never changed.
The story
It started with a hundred dollars and a lens-tinting bench.
Rob and Sue Conens opened Fashion Tints in the spring of 1977 with one hundred dollars, creating the lens styles that ruled the post-disco eyewear landscape through the eighties. They incorporated in 1983 and changed the name to Cascade Optical. High-end, exclusive retail and opticianry has been the focus since 1993.
"We thrive on expert craft, creativity and service — not on marketing exercises and slavish trendiness." Along the way they preserved the old-school opticians' abilities of fitting, repair, personalization and customizing that almost no other shop has kept.
Our clientele is the contrarian sort — which is the best sort. Individuals and strong characters.
Who you'll find inside.
Rob Conens
Founder · Lens craft
Co-founded the shop in 1977 and still does the careful lens work by hand. Also the shop's photographer — the "Shot by Rob" galleries are his, Nikon and all.
Sue Conens
Co-founder
The other half of the partnership since 1977. Forty-nine years of running an independent shop on its own terms.
Christopher
Optician
The optician customers rave about — "an incredible eye for what looks good and what doesn't," and not shy about telling you. Skillful with lenses, honest about frames.
Craft, not trend. Curation, not commodity. The same idea for forty-nine years — and a perfect score for it.
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