Eye clinic to open in high street in October

EuroEyes International Eye Clinic (1846) is to open its first retail-concept vision correction shop in Causeway Bay in October the earliest.

Featuring a wide shop window, it can attract passers-by to come and take some artificial intelligence test for eyes and further check-ups for consideration of vision correction surgery, said Jørn Slot Jørgensen, founder, chairman and chief executive.

The company carries out surgery to treat short-sightedness, presbyopia, which occurs among people in their 40s, cataract, and age-related Macular Degeneration. On average, customers spend 3,000 euro (HK$26,094) per eye. It will collaborate with Zeiss, German optical systems and optoelectronics maker, in the new store. EuroEyes is currently hiring ophthalmologists in Hong Kong.

In addition to shops in Germany, the UK, and Denmark, EuroEyes has eight hospitals in tier-one cities in mainland China including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Jørgensen said some Hong Kong customers previously had their surgery done in the Shenzhen clinic. The company’s business in China and Denmark has returned to the pre-pandemic level, said chief operation officer Michael Zhang.

He added a six-year lease was signed for the Hong Kong shop, which is close to Times Square and was previously occupied by Prada in April. As for the breakeven period, he said it is difficult to estimate now, adding the clinic in Shanghai took three years but the one in Beijing only needed nine months. Jørgensen said it is relatively easier to import equipment to Hong Kong than in mainland China.