Karim Hakimi

File:Karim Hakimi

Karim Hakimi

Occupation: Founder and owner of Hakim Optical

Country of Origin: Iran

City of Residence: Toronto, ON

Self-made tycoon

Born: (needs edits)

Early life

By consistently offering value, selection and excellent customer service, Karim Hakimi has turned a one-person operation into one of the most successful optical companies in Canada, with over 40 million pairs of eyeglasses sold to date.

At nine years old, Karim Hakimi lost his father. He left school to support his family and found employment grinding magnifying glass from old window panes. He learned many aspects of the eyewear business, from lens grinding to equipment maintenance.

As a 14-year-old, Karim set his sights on completing his education. Undaunted in his effort to improve himself, he toiled in nightschool to learn how to read and write. After a stint in the Iranian Navy, he emigrated to Germany and then Switzerland, where he learned modern methods of grinding optical lenses for precision instruments and eyeglasses.

Hakim Optical

Seeking success, Karim came to Canada and found work in the field of ophthalmic lens grinding. Saving his money as he gained expertise, he waited for his chance to strike out on his own.

In 1967, he set up a laboratory in the former Elmwood Hotel in Toronto, and bought and rebuilt old equipment from a closed down lab in Chicago. Armed with pairs of his very own, brand new lenses for sale, Karim began to knock on doors.

Karim’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to opticians and optometrists who supplied him with frames to mount his lenses. Although his reputation as a quality lens grinder soon became well known, he realized that he needed to become his own middle man to profit more from the retail price of a pair of eye- glasses, as his optician friends did. So he then found a way to market his quality, lower-cost products directly to the public. He opened a small storefront, selling eyeglasses by day, and often spending the night working to fulfill his promise of 24 hour order delivery.

Hakimi began selling glasses for $8 a pair and bifocals for $12 a pair, increasing his own profits exponentially while charging far less than others. Before long, he was able to raise his prices by 50 per cent and still have customers lining up because he offered far lower-cost options than his competitors.

One of the many keys to Hakim Optical’s success was Karim’s commitment to mentoring the best staff he could find. As a result, many have stayed with the company, working as opticians and technicians, freeing Karim up to focus on developing new retail opportunities.

Hakim Optical offers a wide selection of fashion frames imported from all over the world. Today, Hakim Optical has 170 showrooms and over 100 one- hour factory outlets in Eastern and Central Canada, with plans to expand further into Western Canada. A supporter of Ride For Sight, Karim regularly hops on his motorcycle to participate in this and other vision-oriented charitable causes. Hakim Optical also donates thousands of pairs of eyeglasses to those in less fortunate countries.

Because of Hakim’s entrepreneurial, business and philanthropic achievements, in 2008, the City of Toronto named a Scarborough street “Hakimi Avenue” in his honour. For those same reasons, in 2012, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.