Although today the Dr. Tavel Optical Group is the largest vision care provider in the State of Indiana, it began with a single office and an individual optometrist armed with persistence, hard-work, outstanding people skills, and an understanding of how to run a business.

Dr. David Tavel began his optical career in 1940 by first continuing his education and learning the laboratory techniques involved in fabricating a pair of glasses.   This extra study enabled him, after serving his country as a Captain in the Air Force during WWII, to include glasses in about an hour when, in 1946, he opened his first office in the Claypool Hotel in Indianapolis.   At that time he realized that to excel in business you have to give the public what they want when they want it.   His philosophy of providing a complete and thorough eye examination, and good looking eyewear at convenient locations and competitive prices proved to be very successful.

Dr. Tavel opened his second office a short time later in Lafayette, Indiana.   His success there encouraged him to continue to grow, opening his third location in Eastgate, the first true shopping center, in Indianapolis.   Operating as "Dr. David Tavel with offices at the Vision Center", these locations flourished.

In the early 1960's, the retail world was experiencing dramatic growth in a new area: discount stores.   Upscale department stores such as locally based L.S. Ayres spawned discount divisions like Ayrway (now Target), and K-Marts were springing up everywhere.   Dr. Tavel saw this change as an opportunity to grow, and introduced a new concept to the optical business: a discount optical store.   This was the beginning of Premium Optical.  Many non-traditional marketing devices were utilized, with a great emphasis on advertising, something Dr. Tavel pioneered when he opened his first vision center and an unheard of approach for an optometrist at that time.   As the company name implied, the concept of Premium Optical was to offer the patient something extra, such as a gift with purchase as well as a great value on a quality pair of glasses.

Both Premium Optical and Dr. Tavel's Vision Centers prospered and grew.   Dr. Tavel's innovative approach to the optical industry found many imitators.   Along with a few other pioneers, Dr. David Tavel revolutionized the way optical services were delivered, marketed, and advertised.   Over time, Dr. Tavel opened locations throughout most of the population centers in Central Indiana.   In the early 1980's, in anticipation of further changing market conditions, Dr. Tavel merged the two distinct chains to form Dr. Tavel's Premium Optical.

Dr. Tavel is also a pioneer in managed vision care.   On July 1, 1977, UAW members, one of the largest employee groups in the state, began to receive the benefits of vision care insurance.   Dr. Tavel was one of the first eye care providers in the country to support this move.   Today, the Dr. Tavel Optical Group offers customized vision care plans for companies and groups of all sizes that work with existing vision insurance as well as with IRS Section 125 programs.   Dr. Tavel can even help companies develop their own cost-effective, self-funded vision care plans for a few pennies per hour.

It's been said that there is nothing new beneath the sun.   That's true in the optical business as well.   Today, the One Hour Service Dr. Tavel first provided in 1946 is fast becoming the standard in the optical industry.   In addition, consistent with advertising the fact that Dr. Tavel has what they need, when they need it, many of the Dr. Tavel Premium Optical locations were remodeled and renamed Dr. Tavel's One Hour Optical to provide a more accurate and concise description of the wide variety of products and services available.

There are currently 22 conveniently located, competitively priced Dr. Tavel's One Hour Optical stores, each of which is staffed by a Doctor of Optometry to examine eyes, detect and treat disease. and prescribe glasses and contact lenses.  Each of these 22 locations has its own complete surfacing and finishing laboratory on the premises to fabricate the prescribed eyewear, an inventory from which to fit any required contact lenses and a fully equipped doctor's room for eye examinations and treatment.

Those offices which were not converted to the one hour format have also been both remodeled and renamed Vision Values.   While they offer the same high level of professional services as the one hour stores there are several differences.   For one, they are formulated on an every day low price concept.   They have a completely different frame inventory than the one hour locations, which often includes special purchases from leading frame manufacturers around the world.   The Vision Values offices do not offer one hour service, opting instead to produce all eyewear in the central, cost-efficient company owned Indianapolis laboratory known as City Optical.   In this way they can live up to the message inherent in their name by always offering true vision values.

The Dr. Tavel Optical Group is the standard by which other vision care providers are judged because of Dr. Tavel's professional teamwork.   Eye examinations are available by Dr. Tavel or one of his associate Optometrists at every location.   Most offices are open when patients need them, with evening and weekend hours, while Mall locations, open late every evening, even offer eye examinations seven days a week.   Dr. Tavel and his associates' examinations are complete and thorough and include testing for glaucoma, cataracts, muscle balance, visual acuity, depth perception and much more.   Dr. Tavel and his staff are happy to discuss which lenses can help make life easier and less stressful and they can uncover vision related learning disabilities in children.   Dr. Tavel and his associates specialize in fitting all types of contact lenses including the new lenses that can enhance, or even change your eye color.

Today, the Dr. Tavel Optical Group has evolved into a specialty retail service company founded in Indiana in 1940 by Dr. David Tavel, an Optometrist with a focus on customer service.  This division of the Dr. Tavel group of companies is vertically and horizontally integrated combining the disciplines of manufacturing, retailing, and health care.   The company operates Indiana's largest chain of optical stores and serves, via its professional corporation, as Indiana's largest corporate group of licensed eyecare providers.  Not only does the Dr. Tavel Optical Group serve the retail customer, but it also is very well positioned to provide both cost-effective vision care benefit plans to attract and retain the very best employees, as well as low cost safety vision programs to bring companies to OSHA compliance.