Eye Opticians shop damaged in riots fears trade will be hit after Specsavers opens next door

Independent: Margaret Asare outside Eye Opticians. Photograph: Oliver Smith

An independent opticians that was damaged and looted in the riots of 2011 fears a loss of takings after national chain Specsavers opened up next door.

Margaret Asare of Eye Opticians, Mare Street, has called on local people to rally to support her independent small business by choosing it over its chain giant rival.

She said: “We suffered in the riots. Our store was smashed and looted. The aftermath took months and months to recover from, and now we are facing fierce competition to stay here.”

Eye Opticians opened eight years ago and Ms Asare, 46, said her shop had come to an agreement with a franchise of Boots, located just a few doors away, not to offer the same deals.

But she said a campaign advertising free eye tests at Specsavers meant the Mare Street branch was now pulling in the punters, adding: “We are feeling the impact. We invite the community to come and support us.”

New branch: Specsavers has opened a shop on Mare Street next door to Eye Opticians. Photograph: Oliver Smith

Ms Asare said: “There is nothing the council can really do. They don’t have the power. In other professions, you can’t have the same stores next to each other like this.”

Ms Asare said she also offered free eye tests as these were available through the NHS, but said Specsavers, which also has branches in Bethnal Green and Dalston, had more “firepower” to advertise this service.

Specsavers did not reply to a request for comment.

Updated at 5.25pm on 11 March 2014:

Specsavers Mare Street’s store director Jayesh Maru said: “Specsavers is a partnership of locally owned and run opticians. It has been serving the East London community for more than 15 years. Myself and fellow director Rupesh Halai own the Mare Street, Hackney, store and the Specsavers stores in Bethnal Green and Dalston. We have a long history of good professional relations with a number of fellow opticians in these areas based on a mutual understanding to help avoid conflicts of interest and we hope to have the same relationship in Hackney. We would be happy to meet with Margaret Asare to discuss how we can best work alongside each other.”