Calhoun Vision

I’ve been a patient at CVC for over 25 years. That’s taken me through several different sorts of extended wear contacts, all the way to the current excellent variety. Exams have always been thorough, never rushed, and FUN (thanks to the ebullient personality and zippy brain of Dr. Granville Lawrence). I’ve had several pair of glasses made there, too– I wear them rarely, but they’ve all been perfect. One thing I appreciate is that you are encouraged to return as often as it takes (at no further charge) to get the rx right, both in contacts and glasses.
Example 1: I got my first pair of progressive lens glasses, and hated them! I felt I could no longer see– pretty bad result with glasses, obviously. I returned to express my loathing, and the optician on duty took them, seemed merely to breathe over them and perhaps whisper an incantation, and they were magically PERFECT! (I think it had to do with a micro adjustment of the frames.)
Example 2: I tried a new brand of contacts a few years ago– they were supposed to be the best yet devised. Same rx as my previous brand (which were perfect). I found them more and more aggravating, as I just couldn’t see. They kept giving me slightly altered strengths (as samples), and nothing worked. I finally just went back to the previous brand– again, perfect. Obviously some of the proprietary chemicals in some contacts just don’t work with some people’s chemistry.
That really demonstrates something I’ve appreciated about Dr. L and DVD: a very generous sample policy. You get a healthy supply to test out before you buy some– and you can just keep at it as long as it takes to achieve a happy result.
Prices are higher in general than the discount optometrists, obviously. However, you have the combination of long experience, attention to detail, and an insistence on successful vision correction that isn’t necessarily available at a giant franchise.

Amazing service and wonderful people. I would highly recommend this boutique to people who are looking for a great experience. For people that want to be taken care of and to be helped out in a bind like I was today!

Dr Johnson was insensitive toward my health history. I responded to Dr Johnson’s insensitivity and told her she was insensitive and offensive. I had not reported the negative experience I had with Dr. Johnson to the clinic owner and only learned now, a year later, when trying to reschedule an appointment that she reported me as being abusive. I find this to be more of the same insensitive behavior. How can a physician whose patient pointed out that their bedside manner is insensitive and offensive toward the patient’s traumatic health history turn around and claim that the patient is abusive. Furthermore, the clinic did not follow-​up with me to determine what took place and I only learn of Dr Johnson’s accusation’s when attempting to make another appointment with a different doctor in the same clinic. There are many eye clinics in Minneapolis — choose another one! Also, if you have a bad experience with a physician — report it, to the clinical director and to their licensing board if you have to. We shouldn’t have to tolerate such substandard care.

I’ve gone there for many years and have generally been happy with the glasses. And I have a very strong prescription and a progressive lens. However with my most recent pair of glasses, they could not get the prescription right even after sending the lenses back to get remade. They noted that VSP is not reimbursing as much as before and they are forced to use lower quality lens makers.

I have surely experienced better exams and surely better quality frames and more select that CVC. The only thing I will go in there from again is an adjustment to the frame that are so twisted that the vision is distorted with the lens siting twisted. Their branded for them frames are cheap and this pair does not seem to be stable at the hinges. My eye exam seemed to go okay until the glasses came back. The person helping me may not know enough about optics to know how much bending the lens in curved frames is too much for good quality vision. The frame would not work as the lens was bowed too much. A repeat eye exam came up with another Rx. This new Rx and a pair of their branded frames went back to the lab. Adjusted many times the days they came in, they never felt right. I kept feeling I had developed a crooked head and ears one up a lot from the other. The vision seemed off and I was not going to get them to repeat the exam a third time.
I have Lasik with near ²⁰⁄₂₀ correction but wanted a progressive lens to make desk work and crafting easier on the eyes. I went out to my Lasik provider and paid for another eye exam. this was an extensive exam. what they found was the lens from CVC had prisms in them and they could not figure why that was done. Nor was it neccesary to correct for astigmatism. can you imagine what looking at the world through their RX in the twisted frames was like. I left the glasses in the bag when I got home and they stayed there these 7 months. My best option was to order Spare-​Specs with my RX from the Lasik provider, one pair for drives and one for close work and to just take the glasses off when I needed to switch. I am now trying to do tax returns and handle a lot of figures and small print. So, I pulled out this glasses hoping I could use them at my desk to handle the close papers and the far distance of my monitor. I cannot even get the glasses to lie flat and the ear pieces are foreign looking at each other after the last adjustment made at CVC. I will not go back. I’ll drive the extra miles back to where I use to go and have a perfect exam result and choice of 10X’s the frames as CVC. This is what I get for trying to do business right in my own backyard.

Ordinary eye exam is $ 226 for new customers. I don’t know why that should make a difference.

I’ve been a patient at Calhoun Vision Center for the past 8 years or so, coming in annually for standard vision testing and contact lens exams. I have always been 100% happy with the service here! Dr. Granville is awesome, as is the rest of the staff – they are always so helpful and friendly. My eyes tend to get really dry and scratchy due to the type of work that I do, so much so that I have difficulty wearing contacts some days (or just look permanently stoned because my eyes are so red), and Dr. Granville was able to find a solution to my problem that cost me no money at all.
During my most recent visit, I decided to update my horribly outdated glasses for something that says «sexy librarian.» I had my choice in frames narrowed down to 6 options, and Betsy helped me pick the winner. I can’t wait to get my new specs, and no longer feel hideous on days when I want to wear my glasses. :)

Hands down the best eye exam and frames-​selecting experience I’ve ever had. I’ve had glasses since I was very young, and have a difficult prescription to fill. I had my appointment with Dr. Heinnonen and she took pictures and readings that I’d never had done before at other vision places. She also took time to explain why she was doing it and showing me what she saw on the charts. The eye exam was a great experience.
I’m not a candidate for surgery or contacts, so I needed to pick some frames. The staff helped me look through a huge selection of frames, from classic to trendy. I was able to find a great pair of more modern glasses (with magnetic sunglasses — you have no idea how great that is for someone like me who can’t wear sunglasses).
I have great vision insurance, so I’m not sure how expensive they are compared to other places, but I can say the all-​around service was second to none.

Good location that’s just West of Uptown, with plenty of parking. Support staff is all great. The two staff Optometrists, Dr. Granville and Dr. Heinnonen, are both extremely competent and explain everything. Their styles are very different, so between the two of them, they probably cater to most people’s personalities. They are very knowledgeable about advances in contact lenses if you are not a candidate for Lasix. I haven’t purchased glasses there, so can’t comment on their selection of frames.