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<\/p>\nSCRANTON \u2014 A business built on one-of-a-kind eyeglasses and stellar customer service and craftmanship will close its doors in the coming months.<\/p>\n
After originally working under someone in the Medical Arts Building on North Washington Avenue, Tom Grudis opened his own shop in 1980 in the former Courtyard Mall, now Ritz Theater building, his daughter, Stephanie Grudis-Whisner, said.<\/p>\n
He stayed in that spot for about four years before establishing a location on Spruce Street, now Biden Street, where the business has remained for four decades.<\/p>\n
Grudis-Whisner joined the family business 33 years ago and stressed that customers grew to appreciate the personalization of each pair of glasses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do all our own work here on premise \u2014 repairs and cutting the lenses \u2014 and most people outsource it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Grudis-Whisner recalled the moment when she decided to work alongside her dad more than three decades ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to college because I didn\u2019t know what I wanted to do with my life,\u201d she said. \u201cThen, I was the manager of a Victoria\u2019s Secret and had enough. I called my father and said, \u2018Can I come to work?\u2019 And he said, \u2018Absolutely.\u2019 I said, \u2018How come you never asked me?\u2019 And he said, \u2018Because you had to make that decision on our own, I wasn\u2019t going to make it for you.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n
Grudis-Whisner also stressed that personalization and customer service have always been the No. 1 priorities for her and her father.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you come in, you get one of us,\u201d she said. \u201cYou know who you\u2019re going to talk to and who you\u2019ll deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Serving generations of customers also has been important at Grudis Optical.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the little kids are now grown adults with kids of their own,\u201d Grudis-Whisner said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been taking care of people all these years. It\u2019s that old, small-business mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Grudis and Grudis-Whisner felt the time was right to eventually close the business.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been talking about it the last year, year-and-a-half,\u201d Grudis-Whisner said. \u201cLike my father always said, my whole life, \u2018Stephanie, it will work out,\u2019 and it always did. It was a great run, but it\u2019s time.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Grudis-Whisner isn\u2019t sure about her next steps, her father joked he might seek out other employment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to have to find a job,\u201d Tom Grudis said.<\/p>\n
Additionally, Grudis-Whisner moved her other business \u2014 The Bare Accessories \u2014 from Montage Mountain to inside Tom Grudis Optical in 2012. Combining the two made perfect sense, she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you go way back to the \u201930s or \u201940s, optical centers were in jewelry stores, so it\u2019s really a throwback to then,\u201d Grudis-Whisner said.<\/p>\n
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A tag is attached to eyeglasses sold at Tom Grudis Optical Center in downtown Scranton Wednesday, December 31, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n
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Eyeglasses are for sale at Tom Grudis Optical Center in downtown Scranton Wednesday, December 31, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n
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Eyeglasses are sold at Tom Grudis Optical Center in downtown Scranton Wednesday, December 31, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n
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A tag is attached to eyeglasses sold at Tom Grudis Optical Center in downtown Scranton Wednesday, December 31, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n