Optician looks ahead to invest in King Street store in South Shields

An optician who has worked on King Street for two decades is looking ahead and has invested in the high street store.
Mel Moore with Bryan ClarkMel Moore with Bryan Clark
Mel Moore with Bryan Clark

Melanie Moore has been a store manager at Specsavers for 22 years and has now taken the helm as a director of the store. She began working as manager in the King Street store in 1998 after being headhunted by optical director Bryan Clark, and has now invested in the store as retail director, despite a difficult year for the high street.

During lockdown, Melanie completed the internal Pathway programme and was appointed as retail director and joint venture partner alongside longstanding optical director Bryan.

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The joint venture partnership ensures that opticians and audiologists can concentrate on delivering what they do best whilst Melanie, as retail director, will focus on the business and customer service aspect.

Over the years, Melanie has built up a strong rapport with colleagues and local customers.

She said: ‘I am thrilled to become retail director of South Shields. I am investing at a particularly nerve-wracking time, however, Bryan and I have been talking about this for a very long time.

"We have a great team and despite the challenges I love my job. It is nice to have some ownership in the business and means I can take some pressure off of Bryan.”

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Bryan Clark said: “As soon as the position of manager came up all those years ago I knew Melanie would be the one for the job, and we’ve not looked back since. I can’t thank her enough for her hard work and dedication throughout the years.

"We make a great team and I can't wait to see what the future holds for Specsavers South Shields.”

While some businesses will close under the new restrictions, the government has recognised that opticians and audiologists provide essential health care services.

This means that Specsavers South Shields will continue to keep their doors open to the public and offer a full breadth of services to the local community.

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Anyone wishing to book an appointment should contact the South Shields store on 0191 4277272 or visit https://www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/southshields.

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