Eyewear Store Near Me in South Pasadena's Mission Street District: Old Focals

Old Focals is the shop with a giant pair of binoculars on its roof at 1110 Mission St in South Pasadena, and inside it sells vintage eyeglasses that have never been worn. It opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and is closed Sundays, Mondays and major holidays. If your eyewear store near me search is really about a frame from 1955 rather than this season, this is the most unusual answer in Los Angeles County.

The shop's FAQ says Old Focals was founded by Russ Campbell more than 30 years ago. In a March 2026 profile, the Los Angeles Business Journal told the origin story: Campbell started collecting eyeglasses in his early 20s after a dream in which an old man handed him a pair of old focals. He began in a warehouse, turning old eyewear frames into sunglasses, and the hobby grew into a business that now outfits film sets.

The same profile notes that the shop has been at its Mission Street address for about 12 years. Before that, it traded in Pasadena. The move put it in a walkable stretch of South Pasadena where old storefronts sit close together, which suits a store whose stock is mostly older than the buildings around it would suggest.

You will know the building before you read any sign. The Business Journal describes a giant pair of binoculars watching visitors from the roof, cartoon eyes glancing from the window, and a stained-glass version of the famous billboard from The Great Gatsby looking over the lot. Inside, frames spanning more than a century fill the walls, some sorted by the colors of a rainbow and others by decade and shape.

It is worth giving yourself time just to look. The cabinets reward slow browsing, and a frame that looks ordinary in a drawer often turns out to be a rare shape once you try it on. It helps to bring a photograph of a grandparent's glasses or a still from a favorite film, because showing a shape is far quicker than describing it across a counter of several hundred frames.

According to the shop's homepage, Old Focals has supplied vintage, new and custom-made eyewear to prop masters and costumers in film, television and theater for more than three decades. The Business Journal credits the shop with the sunglasses Brad Pitt wore in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and with eyewear for A Complete Unknown, the Bob Dylan film. That studio work explains the depth of stock: costume departments need exact period pieces in quantity.

The shop specializes in New Old Stock, meaning vintage frames that have never been worn and are ready for prescription lenses. Its own Collector's Choice line is a gentler way in. On the official online shop, Rounds, a turn-of-the-century round shape in zyl acetate, costs $149. The Architect, inspired by Le Corbusier, is $169. The JFK, in the same style President Kennedy wore, is listed at $129.

For something with a story, the AC Reds are the frames the shop created for the television series Agent Carter, and they come with sun lenses installed for $199 as pictured. True vintage pieces from the cabinets are priced one by one, so ask before you fall for a frame. Our honest advice: skip the rarest showpieces unless you plan to wear them daily, because the Collector's Choice line covers the same shapes for far less.

Read the FAQ before you go. The shop currently offers only single vision lenses, so anyone who needs progressives or bifocals should buy the frame here and have lenses fitted by an optician who handles multifocal work. On repairs, the FAQ answer is candid: not really, though staff can do some if you bring the glasses into the shop. Insurance is not accepted, and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Bring a current written prescription for clear lenses, since the shop is not an eye clinic. Measurements such as pupillary distance matter more with vintage frames than with modern ones, because older shapes are often smaller across the front. If your prescription lacks that number, ask your optometrist to add it before the visit so the lenses can be cut correctly the first time.

Saturday is the only weekend day the shop opens, so expect it to be the fullest. A weekday morning soon after the 10 am opening gives you the cabinets almost to yourself. Remember the short week: the door stays shut on Sunday and Monday, and closing time is 5 pm, earlier than many Los Angeles shops. If you arrive late, go straight to the frame you saw online and leave the browsing for another day.

The Metro A Line stops at South Pasadena station on Mission Street, a short walk west of the shop, so the trip from Union Station or Pasadena needs no car. The walk from the platform takes you past most of the street's small businesses, so arriving by train doubles as a tour of the district before you reach the binoculars on the roof.

Mission Wines is right next door if you want a bottle for later. A few blocks along the street, Jones Coffee Roasters makes a good first stop, and Mike and Anne's is the sit-down choice for a longer lunch. Tomato Pie serves pizza by the slice close to the shop. Spend an hour walking the block of antique and vintage shops nearby before or after your fitting.

Address: Old Focals, 1110 Mission St, South Pasadena, CA 91030. Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 5 pm; closed Sundays, Mondays and major holidays. Prices from the official shop: JFK $129, Rounds $149, Architect $169, AC Reds with sun lenses $199. Single vision lenses only, limited repairs, no insurance, 30-day money-back guarantee. Metro A Line: South Pasadena station on Mission Street.