Premier nation’s ‘Best Optical’
“A beautiful, modern growth-minded practice whose staff faced un unexpected challenge with good old can-do gumption and a community that rallied behind owner Brent Fry, OD, in his time of need,” the June/July 2020 article read.
“I think it’s definitely a nice accomplishment and honor to be named, especially in a national publication,” Fry said. “Anytime a local business is recognized nationally, I think it kind of shows, in Farragut, we’ve got some good retail stores and doctors’ offices right here in our area.
“You don’t have to go to New York or some place to get the good stuff,” he added. “With our optical, we try to make sure that we have a lot of good designers, real high-quality frames, try to set ourselves apart from some of the retail chains that some people like to go to just for the cost aspect.
“We try to focus more on quality and technology rather than just the cheapest price.”
However, he thinks Premier Eyecare was chosen for the recognition because “we just built a new office — It’s a really modern design — and just with our focus on not only optical but also the fact that we have a pretty busy clinic,” Fry said
“I designed (the building) so that the optical is up front and has plenty of space, so it kind of bodes well for this whole COVID mess, and in the back is where our clinic is,” he added. “I wanted (the optical) to be very accessible to people who come in off the street and want to look at glasses, not necessarily just for our patients.
To be chosen, Fry was asked to send photos and fill out questions.
“They want to know a lot about what’s going on … then they look at your online presence,” he said. “There’s a whole bunch of factors they look at to decide who they want to choose.”
Fry has been an optometrist for 22 years. He opened the Farragut practice, next door to his current site, in 2002. After outgrowing his old clinic, he built and moved to his new site in April 2017.
“We had already expanded once in our old location, got ourselves another 500 square feet, which helped us with the clinic but didn’t do anything for the optical, so we had just kind of outgrown our space,” Fry said. “So, we went from 2,400 square feet to about 5,100 square feet now.
“We more than doubled our space,” he added.
Greene now on staff
At the same time, the practice welcomed a new associate optometrist, Taylor Greene of West Knoxville, “so she has roots here,” Dr. Brent Fry, Premier Eyecare owner and optometric physician/optometrist, said of the newest member of his staff.
Fry said Greene filled in for him last year while he was fighting leukemia.
“I went through a time with treatment and hospitalization for about six weeks,” he shared. “Fortunately, I had a lot of local doctors step in and a lot of them even gave their time for free to fill in and help me see patients.”
Greene, who then was at Eye Excel in Knoxville, was one of those doctors.
“She recently had a baby and was looking to do something different and get a little bit closer to the West Knoxville area,” Fry said. “Since she had filled in for us, she really liked our practice and our staff, and our staff really liked her.”
When Greene went on maternity leave, she realized “babies can change everything” so she started looking for a position with which she could have more time with her baby.
“Dr. Fry had a part-time opportunity available, and it was a great fit,” she said. “I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to come in and get to play the role of working mom.”
“We had been looking for an associate, and it just kind of worked out,” Fry said. “We’re excited to have her, and I think she’s a great fit for us. I think she’ll do really well here.”
Premier Eyecare’s hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Wednesday; from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday; from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Fridays; closed Saturday and Sunday.
For more information about Premier Eyecare, call 865-966-0100.
