08/12/09

Excellent customer service!

by ChrisNY

Selima store in soho still has the good old fashion customer service. This is an independent store run by very friendly, and honnest people. My girlfriend and I returned there after a long search for the right pair of glasses for her. We had tried a couple of other places in the area but we decided to return there because we felt that the staff had been very helpful and very patient with us. To add to this great service, they have a good selection of stylish glasses. My girlfriend found the perfect glasses, she wears them everyday.

Thank you :)

• Pros: 

06/09/09

Pretty ok

by FriedBK

Finding cool glasses shops is something of a hobby. If you have to wear them, why not make it fun, right? I like the styles Selima produces under her own name, but the rest of the merchandise at her store is much the same as any generic optical anywhere. I didn't get my lenses from them so I can't speak to that.

• Pros: Some interesting brands, pretty store
• Cons: a lot of stuff seen everywhere else

02/27/09

Selima comes to the rescue

by Spectacles

I am a New Yorker who has worn eyeglasses since I was 12. I bought the most stunning pair of frames designed by Selima, from her Wooster Street store a number of years ago. With a large glass area they are perfect for rimless bifocals, plus being chic. They are part of my identity.

When I broke a temple piece recently, I went back to see if they could be repaired. There really is a Selima amd she was in the shop. She said she thought they could be and would send the frames on to the factory in France. The wait was well worth it, with periodic updates from Amanda and Larry. Going back there to pick them up and have them adjusted gave me the opportunity to see the stunning styles and made me realize that if they could not have been repaired, I would have been able to find a unique replacement pair. Selima's is a part of my New York "urban village", a city that one often doesn't think of as being a small town.

• Pros: beautiful, unique and different eyeglass frames
• Cons: none

01/18/09

Amazing Service and Shop!!

by patriciagirl

I have never written a review before but i had to share my experience at Selima's. First of all this shop in Soho is just beautiful. The glasses are displayed in beautiful dark wooden cases and in an earthy way where you can really compare frames- Each frame has its own space and energy. There are colorful original paintings on the walls and the characters are all wearing glasses- Selima's frames are so hand crafted they feel like art. The choices were exceptional. This beautiful woman helped me and she had such joie de vivre. She took her time with me and when frames did not compliment she told me. Finally after a good half hour we found the perfect frames- I asked her to tell the owner that I really loved my experience there and she said "I am the owner!" I was so excited to meet Selima- and just as excited to tell her how much I love her shop. I have sent many friends there and they all have the same experience- not all have met Selima but all my friends tell me they love the product, and how hand crafted all the frames feel. Their service has been wonderful too. I feel like this shop is an entire experience- My glasses are very special to me and well worth the investment. Thank you Selima for having a shop with wonderful energy and joie de vivre- just like you!!

• Pros: great staff - great product- great atmosphere
• Cons: none

01/17/09

Great staff and product

by bluerosesandwhitewoods

Larry at 59 Wooster rules. I?m extremely surprised by the reviews that reported poor service, definitely not my experience. I?ve had therapists who were less attentive!

Charming and inordinately patient, he helped an extremely indecisive customer try on half the frames in the store, and, when I returned several months later for round two, he was just as helpful. He seemed to understand that the choice of frames is not an insignificant one for customers on a budget.

Great service, great selection, beautiful store.

12/27/08

Even my mom loved the glasses!

by goldglitterlover

Ok, I rarely write reviews because in this city...there is no time! BUT I have a special place in my heart for Selima Optique. This year my mother turned 60 years old and I wanted to surprise her by fixing her old glasses from the 50's (awesome cat eye frames) and having her prescription put in them. I took them to Selima Optique and sadly I didn't realize that they were not repairable. (boo hoo) BUT!!! They offered to make a new pair for her using her old pair as a sample. I was sooooo excited! Selima happened to be in the store and was nice enough to help me pick out a color. It took roughy 6 weeks to have them made, but for a one-of-a-kind frame I was fine with the wait. In the end I had a new frame for my mom and she was totally surprised! What a treat! Thanks again Selima! I am for sure going back to find my own frame next time I need glasses. - Megan

12/03/08

6 months, $585 and I still don't have my glasses.

by carriesloan

I have never been treated worse by a New York business in the thirteen years I've lived here. Six months ago, both my friend and I purchased a pair of frames from the Selima store on Madison Avenue. They were custom orders?to get a frame in a particular color that the store didn't stock?so they told us the wait would be two months. We waited. Two months later. I called to inquire about the status of my order. No call back. I called again?"Oh, they're not in yet. We'll call the factory and call you back." No call back. My friend then began calling and experienced the same treatment. She was from out of town and had little recourse. I decided to call a different store: Larry, at the Wooster Street store, has been incredibly helpful in trying to figure out what went wrong. It turns out, after four long months, my custom order had already arrived?two weeks before, but no one from the Madison store had even called to tell me, and the clincher: they were "unable" to make the glasses in the color I'd ordered (and paid for in full) in the first place, so the ones that I finally went in to see, five months later, were a different color altogether. No mention of that had been made to me either in the five months that elapsed. The net of the story is that today is December 3. On July 19, I paid $585 for a pair of custom-order frames, as did my friend, and to date neither one of us has received our order. The frames may be nice?and if you must go to Selima, ask for Larry at the Wooster street store, he is a gem?but if I were you, and if you need glasses to see, I'd go elsewhere. Eyewear can be gotten quicker.

• Cons: Save yourself the time and trouble.

07/29/08

Dissapointed

by 4eyeballs

While the frames are fun and stylish, I'm disappointed with the service. I don't mind spending a lot for a great frame. The owner herself was helping me, and I tried on several pairs when I came to one I liked. She immediately said I should buy them and really wanted to make the sale. I realized later (when I got another pair of frames that actually fit me correctly somewhere else), that she did not bother to tell me that the nose bridge was way too small for my nose and did not sit comfortably on my face after extended wear. I found out from a better source that there are factors to finding the appropriate fitting frames. Well, she sure didn't tell me a thing about fit or even where your eyes should sit in the frames to suit your face. She had me convinced that the frames were perfect for me. I wasted over $400. Money grubbers!

05/18/08

Intense Improvements

by manhattanbrooklyncity

I have been shopping at Selima Optique for over seven years. I'm a fan to the frames she designs herself, as well as the vintage styles she has. For the past couple of years I began shopping at other places. Her staff wasn't as top notch and welcoming, and the jobs they were doing were lousy. I thought, 'if I'm spending this much money on my frames, shouldn't I deserve amazing customer service, as well?' I was fed up with the store, so I took a break. About four months ago I stepped foot in Selima Optique on Wooster street. Not only was I delighted with the changes decoration-wise, the staff was incredibly welcoming and friendly as well. I was shocked at how well Selima Optique had changed. I bought two frames while I was there, and the lenses were done efficiently as well. Perhaps I came in on some of their good days, I thought, so I went again. Once again, I was wowed with how nice everyone and everything was going. A lovely woman working there helped me to choose what I believe is my favorite pair of glasses so far. That's really impressive because I have about thirty - fourty pairs of glasses.

If I were to review Selima before, I would've given her perhaps a one or two. The people who are writing bad reviews should go and visit again... this time, looking optimisticly. They will realize how much better Selima Optique is doing. Thank god she kicked her staff to the curb and took daring risks... she's better than ever!

• Pros: Friendly staff, huge selection to choose from.
• Cons: Can get a bit too crowded at times.

05/15/08

Was once on my do not miss list.... not anymore

by 4eyes4u

I used to find the service at Selima top notch. Each time I visited New York, I'd go an inevitebly buy a pair of glasses. While her glasses were unique at one point--nothing has changed in ten years. No advancement, no changes, just more of the same, without the level of service she once had the market cornered on. I guess most of her staff left for better jobs.