by Nina Welch

Alexander Daas Opticians, an independent optical shop, opened at 162 Avenida Del Mar this summer with an international curation of eyewear. Featuring brands that use only high-quality materials such as Japanese and Italian acetates, titanium, and surgical stainless steel, the shop has made a name for delivering long-lasting eyeglasses and sunglasses paired with state-of-the-art lens technology.

Alex Feldman, the owner, grew up in a family business in San Francisco but had bigger dreams beyond one location. Today he has four shops across California in San Diego’s Del Mar, Los Angeles’s Larchmont Village, San Francisco’s Marina District, and the latest in San Clemente which he picked for its beach town and local neighborhood vibe which is the feeling in his other locations.

The signature brand, Alexander Daas, was initially created to fill a need for adults with narrower faces. This style was inadvertently launched at the American Music Awards when Jenny McCarthy took the stage in these innovative eyeglasses, and later went on to wear a variety of the brand’s eyewear daily on The View.

While the brand has been worn by the likes of Michael Keaton and Patrick Stewart, and featured by Oprah and USA Today, and even secret-shopped and dubbed by CNN as a top eyewear shop in the nation, Feldman stays close to humble roots. He grew up in the eyewear business at his parents’ small eyewear shop in San Francisco, cutting lenses by age 12 and working with customers as a teen, he saw how the family’s experience was helping people based on their lifestyle. “Every time we dispense a prescription pair of glasses and clients are blown away from the HD lens quality and unique frame design, well, that reaction just doesn’t get old,” says Alex.

The staff, composed of opticians, eyewear stylists, and lab masters are trained in the art of eyewear styling, adjustments and lens selection. Their high-tech, in-house lab uses AI on lenses from creation to finishing, producing eyewear unparalleled to what insurance providers offer, while still working with all insurance plans.

Alex and his wife, Stephanie, have three sons, Zachary, age 10 ½, Ashton, age 9, and Milan, age 2 ½. Their chihuahua-pug dog, Czar, often called the “puptician” is 15 and was quite famous in San Francisco. In fact, the real Chewbacca from Star Wars, Peter Mayhew, would come in for an eyewear styling and cuddle session with Czar.

The shop offers complimentary cleanings, works with all vision plans and benefits including FSA/Flex dollars, and is easily accessible on the main strip of Avenida Del Mar.

Follow them on Instagram @AlexanderDaas.SanClemente, and as Alex always says, “So you have 50 pairs of shoes and only one pair of glasses? What do people look at first, your feet or your face?”