The Optical Outlet on Beechwood Boulevard just celebrated its 1st anniversary at its new location in the shopping center just across the Greenfield Bridge (near Bruster's Ice Cream).

Though this is the first anniversary in the new location, selling eyeglasses is something that owner Shelley Droz and her family have been doing for over fifty years. Shelley grew up on Beechwood Boulevard, just a short distance from the shop's current location in a duplex overlooking the Monroeville Parkway entrance. Her father Leonard, more than fifty years ago owned and operated the Greenfield Theatre on Greenfield Avenue. It was in that theatre that he began to operate L&M Optical at the same time as the theatre operation continued. L&M Optical, at the time, was a wholesale distributor for optical frames and lenses to the opticians and opthamologists in Western Pennsylvania. After just two years of operating the business, Leonard became ill and passed away leaving his wife, Bea Perer to operate the business.

Bea moved L&M optical to Murray Avenue near the intersection of Hazelwood Avenue where she operated the wholesale optical business for over 40 years, for many of them as a team with her daughter Shelley. As Shelley prepared for the move to her new location she called to terminate the utilities. The employee at the gas company upon receiving the call said to Shelley "Is it possible that you have been in exactly the same location for over 40 years?"

The Optical Outlet is one of Pittsburgh's longest continuously operating family businesses - in a time when there are so many choices for where to shop, we greatly appreciate the community's continued support of my family's business and the success we have had and hope to continue.