- Story by Tess Van Straaten Photography by Don Denton

For Jason and Carrie Maycock, running Victoria鈥檚 oldest family-owned eye care business comes with a lot of responsibility 鈥� but the couple, who are passionate about eye care and eye wear, wouldn鈥檛 have it any other way.

鈥淚t will be 70 years this year, which is pretty amazing,鈥� says Dr. Jason Maycock. 鈥淢y grandfather started the business in 1949 and we still have some of his patients who see us, which is pretty incredible.鈥�

Jason and Carrie took the reins of the third-generation business in 2015 after his parents, Brian and Karen Maycock, officially retired. Jason, who鈥檚 an optometrist, worked with his parents for nine years before that, expanding services at Maycock Eyecare in 2006 to include eye exams 鈥� prompting the name change from Maycock Optical 鈥� after returning from school and residency work in the United States.

鈥淭aking over the business, I think, was always in the back of my mind, and after I went to optometry school I was able to take the business and the history and the heritage and add another level to it,鈥� the 41-year-old explains. 鈥淲e were able to bring a whole new focus into the business.鈥�

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Forty-year-old Carrie, who has a nursing background and is a licensed optician, worked with Karen for a full year before she retired, learning the ins and outs of running the business and making for an easy transition.

鈥淭hey were very successful. We鈥檝e just kind of taken that and we have our own spin on things, but that鈥檚 really our foundation,鈥� Carrie says.

鈥淪uccession is not always easy but it was as smooth as it possibly could have been for us and my parents are still available for consultation,鈥� adds Jason. 鈥淲e ask them the odd thing but mainly they come in shopping for nice glasses.鈥�

It was a very different story when Brian took over the business from his father and company founder, Ronald Maycock, back in 1971 under some very stressful circumstances.

鈥淢y dad was in accounting school when my grandfather had a really bad stroke and couldn鈥檛 maintain the business. So my dad decided to come back from Vancouver and take over, but he had absolutely no eye training whatsoever,鈥� explains Jason. 鈥淟uckily, he was a smart accountant and that helped with the business aspect and he learned eyes on the go.鈥�

For Jason, who never met his grandfather, hearing stories about him from their oldest patients is always a treat.

鈥淗e passed away when my dad was young so it鈥檚 neat to hear some of those stories of how business was done in the 50s and 60s,鈥� he says. 鈥淸Clients] used to come to pick up their glasses and sometimes have a drink, have a scotch 鈥� a Mad Men sort of thing. It was definitely a different era.鈥�

It鈥檚 not the only way Maycock Eyecare, which used to primarily sell glasses, has changed over the years. At one point, Jason鈥檚 parents had five locations, but he says it was always a challenge to get people as invested in the business as they were, so those locations were franchised and sold off. Now, with one large downtown location, they鈥檝e expanded to include 10 staff members and two additional optometrists to meet growing demand.

鈥淥ur employees are essential to the business and some of them have been with Jason since he started his practice,鈥� Carrie says. 鈥淕etting the right staff is critical and we really believe in education, which is why we take them to conferences where they鈥檙e exposed to the newest trends. It鈥檚 engaging and it gets them excited, and then they come back and pass that on to the clients.鈥�

But by far, the biggest change over the decades has been the technological advances.

鈥淲hen it comes to eye exams, it鈥檚 totally high-tech, and we have a real focus on technology,鈥� he says. 鈥淣ot only do we get an image of the eye, we ultrasound the eye and get into the layers of the retina to see disease like we鈥檝e never been able to before. For things like macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in Canada, anything we can do to detect it quicker and have a better outcome is important.鈥�

鈥淲e pride ourselves on having the best diagnostics and equipment,鈥� Carrie adds. 鈥淚t can be expensive, but we feel it鈥檚 critical to patient care.鈥�

Another thing critical to the Maycocks success was the purchase of their Blanshard Street location, which was taken down to the studs and totally renovated in 2010 to create the perfect space for both eye wear and eye care.

鈥淢oving to this building was very beneficial for my parents and also for us because it鈥檚 set us up for the future and for success. It鈥檚 their legacy but it鈥檚 also their retirement package that we鈥檙e paying for,鈥� laughs Jason. 鈥淚t worked out well for everyone.鈥�

The couple says they鈥檙e constantly looking at ways they can build on that success and make improvements.

鈥淲e鈥檙e both really self-reflective and analytical and I鈥檓 always evaluating things 鈥� I think it comes from my nursing background,鈥� Carrie says. 鈥淚 look at the whole picture and the base causes of things, so I鈥檓 always looking at how we鈥檙e doing and how we could do things better. That鈥檚 just part of my DNA.鈥�

As they continue to grow the business, Jason says he knows how lucky they are to own a respected Victoria business, but he says his dad recently reminded him that the harder you work, the luckier you get.

鈥淚 was very lucky to have this to come back to and to build on it,鈥� Jason says. 鈥淥ver the last three years, we鈥檝e been lucky, but we鈥檝e tried to work hard to make that luck happen. We know how hard we work, we saw how hard they worked, and we couldn鈥檛 have got it to where it is now without that.鈥�

Maycock Optical鈥檚 website .