SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – A local eye care company is in the midst of a change.
Kevin Lehr has been a part of the Pearle Vision family for 47 years, starting first in Omaha before purchasing his own franchise here in Sioux Falls in 1993.
“I’ve always loved being involved with patient care and selling glasses — whether it’s selling the glasses or adjusting them or talking to people about contact lenses. We schedule them with doctors for appointments,” Kevin Lehr said. “So, really, the most important thing is about caring for the patient.”
But now, after nearly 50 years of adjusting glasses, he’s making an adjustment in his own life.
“I’m getting older and would like to retire, step back,” Kevin Lehr said. “A lot of times I’m still here six days a week working. I didn’t want to just walk away, there’s too many patient relationships we’ve built over the last 33 years to just walk away. So, I wanted to kind of slowly walk away.”
He’s been able to do just that thanks to the new owner of this Sioux Falls franchise — someone he’s very close with.
“When my son was interested in buying the practice, I thought it was the right time to transition,” Kevin Lehr said.
Dr. Travis Lehr grew up watching his dad work with patients and glasses — which inspired him to go into optometry.
“It’s a field that we take for granted. I don’t think that we would often look at it without having something that makes us aware of it,” Travis Lehr said. “So, I was fortunate enough to grow up aware of the field.”
Eight years ago, he joined the team at Pearle Vision after college and started InSight Eye Care Professionals alongside it. Now, he’s excited to see both sides of this business continue to grow.
“We’re constantly investing in new technology and new ways to kind of deliver the best care and be able to identify conditions sooner or provide the best optical clarity because the prescription is more than just the numbers we have, it’s the quality of what lens we use as well,” Travis Lehr said.
For patients who got used to seeing Kevin Lehr at Pearle Vision, don’t worry, he says he’ll still be around, just maybe working four days a week instead of six. Outside of that, he hopes to do a little more traveling.
