An optician shop "Hello Andy !!" (Higashinagamachi, Hirosaki City, TEL 0172-78-4381 ) opened on July 7 near Hirosaki Park.

The store was opened by Takashi Kimura, the owner who has over 20 years of experience selling eyeglasses. The name of the store comes from Andy Warhol, a pop artist that Kimura admired when he was a student. The concept is that "wonderful things can be seen through glasses".

Mr. Kimura is from Tsugaru City and went to Tokyo to go on to higher education. After graduating from a vocational school, he got a job at a major eyeglass chain "Parimiki". Mr. Kimura said that he was assigned to Sapporo and Morioka, mainly in Aomori, and "someday I wanted to open my own shop locally."

There were various ties to the opening. According to Mr. Kimura, "Megane no Yamada" (Dotemachi) was largely closed. "Megane no Yamada" used to be an optician store that opened three stores in Hirosaki, but all stores closed in March this year. Mr. Kimura says, "I bought a variety of used eyeglasses such as eyeglass measuring equipment, processing machines, and visual acuity testers from Yamada. It was a great help in raising funds for opening a business."

The place where the store was opened is the site of the relocated Japanese sweets shop "Azuki-an". The store area is about 15 tsubo. Taking advantage of the store that retains the Japanese atmosphere, the white walls, exposed concrete floors, shelves and checkout counters have been unified to black. The eyesight test room and processing space are made of glass doors so that they can be seen from outside the store. "In a typical optician store, it's in the back of the store, so it's hard to see it from the front. I dared to try the opposite," says Kimura.

The brand lineup includes Enaloid, Jack Duran, Kamemannen, Kearney Eyewear, and MAL. In addition to having the first brand in Aomori prefecture, it also competes with overseas vintage frames. We also sell low-priced eyeglasses with lenses for 8,800 yen, aiming for a wide range of customers. In addition to eyeglasses, T-shirts are also sold.

Mr. Kimura said, "Although it is a store packed with commitment, I do not intend to choose customers, I want you to convey the charm of the product properly and wear glasses happily. Hirosaki has many fashionable people and there is a culture in the town. I want to make it a store that will be loved for a long time in the town I admire. "

Business hours are from 10:00 to 19:00. Closed on Wednesdays.