The Sparkle of Success: C&C Optical Laboratories and Digital Lenses

By Paddy Kamen

The sparkle in his eyes says it all —Tony Civello simply loves the lens business. His passion comes across in every gesture, his commitment speaks for itself: he’s built two successful labs in less than 24 years.

C&C Optical Laboratories, the business he now runs with his wife and business partner, Raffaela, together with their son Joseph, is testament to over 45 years in the optical industry. Based in Markham, Ontario, the lab employs 17 people, almost all of whom have been there since its very beginning in 2003.

But first things first. Tony Civello is an optician who started his career in the optical industry when he was still a teen. He started training in surfacing and finishing in a small lab, then moved to American Optical, where he was eventually promoted into management, becoming branch manager for AOCO’s Toronto and Hamilton operations.

In 1986, he and Raffaela decided it was time to branch out. Her expertise lies in office management, purchasing and accounting. Together they grew R&R Optical from zero to 350 accounts. “We had over 1,200 jobs a day,” notes Tony proudly.

Raffaela & Tony Civello

In 1997 Essilor acquired R&R Optical. “We both stayed on, working at R&R,” says Tony. “Then, needing a change of pace, I left in 2000 and did some consulting work.  Later I became a partner with Tri-City Optical in Florida.  By 2003 I was looking around for another lab to purchase. That’s how C&C Optical started in 2003, with not one single customer.”

It took about four years for the Civellos to build the business up to the point of solid profitability. It wasn’t easy, as Tony explains:  “We encountered major challenges like SARS (the epidemic that caused Torontonians to cancel their eye examination appointments) and the de-listing of eye exams under the Ontario healthcare plan.  We had one sales person who was great but since she left it has been mostly up to me. I love to go out and sell but I am also very involved in the day-to-day operations at the lab.”

It was the advent of digital lens technology that gave Tony Civello the smile of his life, and it was a collaboration with Gerber Coburn that moved C&C Optical Labs into the new age of lenses.

“After so many years in optical labs it was exciting to see this revolutionary technology for processing progressive lenses,” says Tony. “We started out gradually, but when the ‘big four’ lens laboratories adopted the technology and brought out their own digital lenses, we knew digital processing was here to stay. As a full-service independent lab owner, I knew this was the way of the future and I was, and still am, very excited about digital lenses.”

Having made the decision to go digital, the Civellos had next to decide which processing equipment to buy. They visited some labs in Quebec where such equipment was already being used successfully and were also invited to the Gerber Coburn headquarters in South Windsor, Connecticut to evaluate their DTL 200 Generator and MAAT Polisher. “We were very impressed,” notes Tony.

C&C was subsequently asked to be the test site for Gerber Coburn’s equipment. At the same time, CC Systems of Florida and Indizen Optical Technologies (IOT) of Madrid, Spain, were introducing IOT’s free-form lens designs to the marketplace. They too wanted C&C to be their test site, using the Gerber Coburn equipment.

“I’ve never seen Tony so excited,” says Raffaela. “He got right into the process like a kid in a candy store.” 

The testing took three and a half months of long days and considerable frustration. “Crazy doesn’t begin to describe it,” notes Tony. “It was a nightmare,” he says, holding his palm to his forehead. “There was so much high-priced talent involved, including IT professionals from Spain and engineers from Gerber Coburn. The systems are incredibly complex and we processed hundreds of lenses, making corrections daily to fine-tune the design and the process. But it was worth it because in the end we created one of the best designs available in the marketplace.”

The Vista Plus digital lens from C&C is a true digital lens with spherical front, both distance and near surfaced on the back, and four different corridor lengths. “We can sell for less and have as good a product as anyone — it is a beautiful lens. And we can put any company’s coating on it,” explains Tony. “The doctors and opticians who have used them can’t believe the quality. One doctor called me and was sure he had a single vision lens rather than a progressive. These lenses are making many people happy who had doubts or negative experiences with the first generation of digital lenses.”

The Civellos are thrilled with Gerber Coburn and thankful for the opportunity to be involved in the design of the latest in lens technology.  "We have an excellent relationship with them — they and their equipment deliver every step of the way," says Tony.

Where will the Civellos be in ten years time? Tony swears he will still be in C&C’s laboratory. “The optical industry is a fantastic place for me. And as an optician I have had the privilege of seeing what a difference the right lenses can make in people’s lives. There’s nothing quite like seeing a child’s face light up when they put on their glasses and can see. We still do magic in this business.”

Raffaela is very slowly beginning to ease out of the full-time work that has consumed her life for so long. She enjoys their Southern Ontario cottage and a place in Mexico where she volunteers at an orphanage. She is also committed to fundraising on behalf of cancer research and she has raised over $10,000 through her participation in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer, now known as the Weekend to End All Women’s Cancers.

Tony’s nature is such that he can take only a couple of days away from the lab before he gets ‘antsy’. He is training their son, Joseph, (who will soon begin studying for an optician’s diploma) in all aspects of the business. Not wanting to ever miss a call when he is on the shop floor, Tony recently obtained an telephone ear set. “I am accessible to all our customers and at C&C we solve every problem right away. There are no layers of management to go through for a solution because the buck stops with me and I’m intimately involved in this business to the point where I can fill in for any job if an employee is away.”

Terry Sharko, formerly of Zenoptix, recently joined the C&C team as lab manager. He is also thrilled with the new digital lens products and at the time of Vision Magazine’s visit to the lab in Markham, was still familiarizing himself with all aspects of the operation. Once Sharko is up to speed, Tony plans to spend more time on outside sales.

Whatever he does, Tony Civello does it with an unstoppable spirit and positive attitude. Raffaela, while working quietly in the background, is a full partner in every sense of the word and an accomplished person on her own terms. Amazingly, this couple has created not only a successful marriage but two successful businesses. Even more amazing, their son wants to be part of it, a decision he made without any pressure from his parents.