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Greater Manchester opticians chain Specscart has opened a new store it says is “as cool as an Apple store” as it plans expansion in 2025 including a push into the USA.

Specscart after he was frustrated at the cost and slow pace of other opticians’ services when he broke his own glasses. The company now has three stores across Greater Manchester and Mr Sethi says sale last year grew to more than £3m.

Now the company has opened a concept store in its home town of Bury that it says is “as cool as an Apple store, browsable as a Waterstones and quirky as an independent boutique”.

The Union Street store is four times the size of the company’s existing Bury store, with twice as many eye test rooms. It promotes every pair of glasses in the 1,000-plus Specscart collection, and shoppers can order straight from their smartphones.

Specscart says it is set for a year of growth, with a new website set to launch, its optical lab now able to operate until midnight to meet demand, and with expansion to the US planned. Specscart’s workforce grew from 18 to 21 during 2024 with another two hirings in the pipeline for 2025. It also has 20-plus employees in production units in China and IT operations in India.

The store’s £100,000 transformation also showcases the history of the Union Street building, with original features including decorative ceiling plasterwork retained and with a mural installed about the history of the building.

Specscart founder and managing director Sid Sethi said: “Our new store looks nothing like the clinical, old-fashioned and quasi-medical opticians of yesterday. We want people coming in for a browse, a try on and a chat just like they’d do in Zara, Gym Shark or JD Sports.

“If you wear glasses, they are on your face for most of your waking hours – and they are one of the first things that people notice about you – so we want customers coming in to store and trying loads of different pairs on like they might with trainers in the Nike store.