by Dave DeMars
news@thenewsleaders.com
Dr. Tom Johnson once contemplated calling his business “The Wizard of Eyes,” a cute, catchy take-off on the Wizard of Oz, complete with a yellow brick road leading to the shop, but that name quickly gave way to Infinite Eye Care.
“We’ve created a kind of culture that makes it so people will, for the most part, understand what is going on with their eyes, and what their options are,” said Dr. Tom Johnson, owner and optometrist at Infinite Eye Care in Sauk Rapids. “We really try to educate our patients.”
In the small shop at 210 Second Ave. N., Johnson and his staff of seven work not only to build a business but also to create a better life for people who come and look for help in seeing the world a bit more clearly. It’s a calling Johnson took up with a passion more than 25 years ago, and since 2009 he has been providing the service in Sauk Rapids.
It hasn’t been easy, Johnson admits. There have been ups and downs, but the business seems to have turned the corner.
“When you first start up your business, you’ll do just about anything to get yourself known,” Johnson said.
That led to Johnson joining the Chamber of Commerce, becoming active in the Lions Club and taking on a variety of activities to get his name in front of the public. Johnson admits the motive wasn’t pure and idealized even if the results were honest and helpful to the community at large.
“But after a while, like in the Lions group, after you kind of do these things for a while, something kind of switches and you don’t have to be involved in them anymore,” Johnson said, “but you become thankful you are allowed to give your time and money to these organizations.”
Today, Johnson will tell you the best way to get your business known is to become involved in the community. But young entrepreneurs aren’t always aware of that or willing to take part. Johnson estimates now 50 percent of his new patients, perhaps even more, come through word of mouth.
One might wonder how Johnson came to want to be an optometrist. He tells the story of how when he was a kid, his grandfather had diabetes.
“I remember thinking as a child it would be nice if he didn’t have to deal with the stuff he was dealing with,” Johnson said. “When I got out and was studying in college, I learned diabetes can be detected in an eye exam.”
His grandfather’s health condition was one motivating factor, but the other experience occurred when he went to the state fair and visited booths for dentistry and optometry.
“The booth for dental care had pictures of some guy’s mouth with horrible-looking teeth. The other booth had a picture of an eyeball,” Johnson said. “I said to myself that one looks a lot easier than dealing with a lot of rotten teeth.”
And thus was created Tom Johnson, optometrist. He worked in the field for others, but nine years ago, he decided to strike out on his own.
“I wanted to get out of the St. Cloud scene and get off in a more isolated town,” Johnson said. “An opthalmology surgeon suggested Sauk Rapids since there wasn’t anyone in town doing eyes.”
Johnson said he knew little about Sauk Rapids when he drove across the bridge, but he was impressed by the new buildings and the fact it still had a downtown area. He saw the development that was going on and reasoned the city would grow even more. He wanted to be part of that development. Today, he’s excited at the possibilities he sees still present in Sauk Rapids.
He’s also excited about his business. It has grown – slowly at first. There were days when he saw only three or four patients a day. But that has changed and now there are days when he sees three or four patients an hour. It’s a good feeling, he said.
“Infinite Eye Care is an extension of myself,” Johnson said. “I want to create a relationship with my patients. I want to give them one-on-one personal service. Infinite Eye Care will provide the best possible care.”
Don Kankelfitz tries on a new pair of glasses at Infinite Eye Care while optician Kim Jelen looks on. Kankelfitz, who lives at Good Shepherd Nursing Home and is a retired over-the-road long-haul truck driver, says he knows the value of good eyesight – especially for a trucker.
Jeff Udy, operations director, and Dr. Tom Johnson, optometrist and owner of Infinite Eye Care, take a break just before lunch. Johnson has worked as an optometrist for 25 years and opened Infinite Eye Care in 2009. “I like being in a downtown location and being able to help people,” Johnson said. “That’s why we are here.”
Jeff Udy, operations director at Infinite Eye Care, checks out the Optical Coherence Tomography machine, which is used to help diagnose many types of eye conditions, including macular hole, macular pucker, macular edema, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, central serous retinopathy and diabetic retinopathy. “It’s like taking an MRI scan of your eyeball,” Udy said.
