Frameology Optical settles into new space in DeWitt

DeWITT, N.Y. — Frameology Optical, a business that specializes in filling prescriptions for and fitting glasses and contact lenses, has moved from a space near Syracuse University to a new location in DeWitt.

Frameology Optical is the doing-business-as name of Market Beads, Inc., a business that owner Stacy Daniel-Murphy formed in 2006. She launched Frameology Optical in 2014 and no longer maintains the bead business.

Frameology Optical now operates in a 1,450-square-foot space in the Chimney’s Plaza at 5781 Bridge St. in DeWitt, having opened there in early January.

It was previously located in a 1,300-square-foot space at 756 S. Crouse Ave. on the Syracuse University hill. Daniel-Murphy leased the space from John and Jerry Dellas. Her business was situated above Ellie Mia Boutique in the same building that currently houses Varsity Pizza. 

The Move

Daniel-Murphy says her lease was up. Although she didn’t have to move, she decided to find a new space for a “couple” reasons. 

First, the demolition of the Hoople Special Education Building across South Crouse Avenue forced the closure of the parking lot at the corner of South Crouse Avenue and Marshall Street. The demolition is part of the preparation work for construction of Syracuse’s National Veterans Resource Complex.

“They were eating up about 30 spaces, so it was getting harder for my customers to park,” says Daniel-Murphy.

Second, she also realized that the building that houses Varsity Pizza could “come down at some point” in a proposed redevelopment project. “I didn’t want to relocate … temporarily and then come back,” says Daniel-Murphy.  She called the whole situation for the move “good timing.”  When asked what she liked about the new location in DeWitt, Daniel-Murphy replied, “Actually everything.”  But the available parking, she admits, “is the best thing.”

In addition, Frameology Optical previously operated in an upstairs space, but in the Chimney’s Plaza, her business has a street-level view, visible from Bridge Street.  That visibility is huge,” she adds.

Her business attracts customers from Syracuse, Jamesville, DeWitt, Fayetteville, Manlius, and Cazenovia, says Daniel-Murphy.

New Space

Daniel-Murphy says she found the space by simply driving past the Chimney Plaza and seeing a for-lease sign. She had her broker, Barton Feinberg of Sutton Real Estate Company, LLC, call about it and secured it.  “I immediately knew that this was the spot,” she says.  Daniel-Murphy leases the space from Frank Pavone of Pavone Associates.

Chuck O’Neil, a contractor based in Phoenix in Oswego County, completed the interior build-out for the business. Craig Polhamus, an architect from Fayetteville, handled the design work on the space, says Daniel-Murphy.

Daniel-Murphy spent about $50,000 to move her business, which included $35,000 in loans, she adds.  Frameology Optical’s sales rose 42 percent in 2016 compared to 2015, and she is projecting a further sales increase of 45 percent this year. Daniel-Murphy declined to disclose dollar amounts.

About the Business Owner

Daniel-Murphy is a licensed optician, a position she describes as “the pharmacist of the optical world.” She specializes in lenses and prescriptions, and helping customers navigate the many available options.

“I’m totally independent. I don’t have a doctor. I don’t take any kind of insurance, so with that, my hands aren’t tied to anybody,” she says.  The business has two part-time employees.

Most of the brands that Frameology Optical carries are “exclusive,” she says, so no one else in about 150-mile radius can carry the brands.  Daniel-Murphy says she didn’t pursue certification as a minority and woman-owned business enterprise for Frameology Optical because she doesn’t believe it helps retail businesses like hers. 

Daniel-Murphy was born in Conneaut, Ohio and moved to the Syracuse area when her father started working at the Anheuser-Busch plant in Lysander. She graduated from Baker High School in Baldwinsville in 1986. She then attended Erie Community College in Buffalo because it offered a program in optical dispensing, which enabled her to become licensed optician. 

From there, she went to work for Pearle Vision for 12 years, which included a move to Atlanta, Georgia. While in Georgia, Daniel-Murphy obtained her bachelor’s degree in finance from Kennesaw State University. She returned to Central New York in 2002, and eventually decided to leave Pearle Vision for a job in the office of Dr. Anthony Mondo, an optometrist with offices in Clay and Cicero. 

Along the way, she launched her bead business in 2006, which continued through 2012. She went back to working for Dr. Mondo for a year before deciding to open her own business to sell European eyewear in 2014.         

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com