Dear Friends,
Today marks our 10 year anniversary! We wanted to take a quick moment, to share this occasion with our dear patients, and to thank you all for allowing us the privilege of serving your vision care needs.
As we stroll down memory lane, some of you may be interested to know how this all started? Drs. Schmitt and Nichols were both busy Moms of small children employed as associate doctors with the dream of someday working for themselves. Following a traditional path seemed out of the question as there were simply not enough hours in the day to open, and build, a successful practice. An idea was then born. Why not co-own, and job-share, the task of building that business? Working over July 4th weekend 2010, with their families’ generous gift of manual labor, the docs revamped a small shared starter place into their first office. And off they went. Over the last 10 years, we’ve moved to the larger location on Broadway, and then further expanded that office. We’ve opened in a small suite on Tanque Verde, and then moved it a few doors down for more space. We’ve had the honor of re-vitalizing the Douglas location, and the particular joy of establishing a spot on the beautiful University of Arizona campus. We’ve grown from a family of 5 coworkers, to one of 26. The small children are now teenagers and the Moms continue to have dreams of further expanding their cherished practice when the time is again right.
Originally, we hoped to have a huge celebration to mark this occasion, complete with a very special guest! Instead, we will plan on rolling out the red carpet next July, as year 11 will be all that more special.
For our quieter celebration currently, we are offering spectacular spectacle deals, as well as large rebate savings on contact lenses. For glasses, we are offering 50% off your second pair. We’ve recently restocked our frames, so you are sure to find the perfect set. For contacts, we offer exclusive rebates on both Acuvue and Alcon products from $50 all the way up to $300! There has never been a better time to try the comfort and safety of daily disposable contact lenses. We appreciate, and need, your Optical business.
As we continue to follow all COVID safety protocols, we are open to see you for urgent eye health concerns and routine exams. Our Opticals are fully stocked with fun eyewear and comfortable contact lenses. We are continuing to space patients to allow for both social distancing, and sanitation between guests. We require face coverings. Our staff is committed to providing you with as safe an experience as possible, and we are committed to keeping our staff healthy in return. If you are high risk, or would just simply like to wait a bit longer to venture out, please call us to get on the schedule later in the year and we will save a spot for you.
Thank you Tucson, and Southern Arizona, for allowing us to be a part of the community for the last decade. We are dedicated to making our “new normal” BETTER during the next 10.
With gratitude and hope,
Drs. Schmitt, Nichols, Roberts, Greiten, Hilde, and Romero
Plus 21 harder working than ever, fun loving, amazingly talented- staff!
Congratulations class of 2020! Our own Rachel Schmitt graduated today! She has worked for us for 10 years 😊. At the beginning she would happily come in to “play office” and make phone calls to let patients know their glasses were in. As time went on- she negotiated a days work for a new lip gloss 😆. Fast forward the last few years, and we’ve competed for her free hours from babysitting and running a Poshmark empire. She joins us at our reopened Campus location this summer- and her Mom is hoping like crazy to see her smiling face there on a routine basis in the fall as she continues the Wildcat 🐻⬇️ family tradition! Way to go class of 2020! 🎉
New Twitter account! (Yes- we’ve had a bit of spare time 🤷♀️)
May 7, 2020
Dear Friends,
We’ve struggled with this communication, and apologize for it being a few days behind schedule. We wanted to be able to shout out boldly and loudly “Everything is back to normal! Come in and see us anytime! Please fill up our lobbies with your smiling faces!”. But. Alas. Our message of triumphant return needs to be shared a little bit softer, at a little bit slower pace, and with a few modifications that we too, do not love- but know are necessary. So here it goes:
In addition to urgent visits, we are back to providing routine eye care! It is amazing to help our patients see a little clearer, find contacts that feel a bit better, and choose new glasses that boost their style. We are, however, continuing to recommend that if you are in a high risk group that you wait a little bit longer to see us for non-urgent visits. We will be here when this crisis calms. We want you to be here as well.
We continue to sanitize between each patient, disinfect all common areas hourly, and we’ve installed barrier shields on our front desks and on all equipment. Our staff are wearing masks, to help protect you, and we kindly ask that you do so for us as well. We have hand sanitizer, and sinks with pleasant smelling soap galore. All patients, and staff, are screened with a COVID-19 checklist, and temperature check upon entering. We are following all government recommendations for operating a business during a pandemic. Most importantly, we are vigilant about maintaining the health of our staff, and doctors, whom deserve the safest working conditions possible during this unprecedented time. We ask for your patience, and understanding, as this has been challenging for our small business to navigate!
You will also find that we have longer available hours. We are starting our appointments, both in clinic and the Optical, earlier in the day, and ending them later in the evening. This allows us to space out visits so that we can accomplish all of the above and provide social distancing as well. Broadway, Tanque Verde, and Douglas locations are offering Saturday hours. We are beyond excited to announce our beloved location in the Student Union of the University of Arizona reopens with a limited schedule tomorrow. The time has finally arrived to see your shining eyes again- and now we have extra individual time for each of you!
It’s difficult for us to express our gratitude for those of you that have reached out with words of encouragement, and we are beyond grateful for all that are returning to help us regrow this business that we love. 8 weeks of pause has been a challenge that could not be planned for, but can only be risen from. Please visit your favorite local boutiques, restaurants, and gyms when the time is right. Continue to reach out to friends and family as if there was nothing else to do, because now we know they are what mattered when life got quiet. And most importantly, give yourself the gift of grace for days when this all feels a bit overwhelming, and know that we have confidence in you to persevere right along with us.
With renewed joy in providing the very best in eye care,
Drs. Schmitt, Nichols, Greiten, Hilde, Romero, and Roberts
Plus our amazingly intact through it all, always helpful, joy to be around - APEC crew!
Dear Friends,
We wanted to update you on our return, and also check in to make sure you too are doing well?
As of now, we plan to resume routine eye care on May 4th. As with most activities, we feel delaying non-urgent visits can only benefit our community as we continue to attempt to mitigate the horrible potential of COVID-19. Tucson’s response to this crisis has been inspiring, and we are confident that we will all make it to the other side of this and be poised to once again become the vibrant city that we all cherish.
As we’ve mentioned, we are here for all emergent and urgent care. If you are not seeing clearly, and it cannot wait another few weeks, please call us so that we can solve your concern. If you are experiencing a worry about your eye health, we can see you either in-office, or by Skype. Our Optical is also open for urgent needs. Reach out to us at 520-322-2713 and together we can find the safest way to address your situation. We will be re-opening the Tanque Verde location, on the limited basis mentioned above, April 13th. Office hours will be 9-5 at both locations. The University location sadly remains closed for now. Our Douglas location is open with limited hours as well. All (4) locations can be reached via email at office@arizonaprimaryeyecare.com.
During this hibernation, we have found a few projects to keep us busy. Broadway has a beautiful new floor in the waiting room that we are excited for you to see. The floors at the Tanque Verde location have been refurbished to like-new condition. We have (finally) joined Instagram- and hope that you will follow along with us at www.instagram.com/arizonaprimaryeyecare . We have scrubbed all the locations top to bottom, and found a lot of useful items that we forgot we had! Have you had this experience at your home as well? What have you been doing during this period of pause? We’d love to know! Email us, or better yet, let us know when we get to see you in person again.
Some have asked what they can do to help support our local business. For the time being, we simply ask that you do all you can to keep yourself, and your family and friends, safe. All the small businesses of Tucson benefit if we work together to get the situation under control sooner than later. Please stay home for anything that isn’t urgent, and know we miss doing the fun stuff too! We are so close to winning this battle, let’s Bear Down and finish it together.
Missing you all dearly,
Drs. Schmitt, Nichols, Greiten, Hilde, Romero, and Roberts
Plus 22- hard working, cabin fever experiencing, best-in–the-business, staff!
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Arizona Athletics
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(Without looking at the comments...!)
Arizona Primary Eye Care | #BearDown
Dear Friends,
With gratitude, as well as measured relief, we are happy to announce our doctors/staff are currently receiving their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. During this time, our thoughts turn to the amazing nurses in our community who are pushing through this incredibly challenging time with an inner strength greater than any could imagine. We are proud to know them as friends. Today we dropped off a small token of appreciation to the TMC ICU crew to say thank you- to those whom we can never thank enough. We ❤️ you!
