Marina Optical Boutique With an In-House Lab: Veo Optics

Veo Optics keeps its Marina District shop at 2100 Union Street, and it is the Veo location where the FAQ says an independent doctor is on site for eye exams. That combination, an optician's counter, a San Francisco lens lab and an optometrist under one roof, is why this is the Veo shop to pick if you need both a new prescription and a new pair. The company takes no vision insurance at all, which it states in capital letters on its FAQ, and it keeps its work in house instead.

The Veo Optics homepage dates the company to 2009 and calls itself the premier destination for life-altering eyewear. It says its approach rests on four principles, service, price, selection and quality, and it says it has won the distinction of Best Place to Buy Eyewear 16 years in a row. That is the company's own claim, and the site does not name the award, so read it as marketing rather than a ranking.

The shop sits on the Union Street shopping strip, where Victorian storefronts hold boutiques and cafes. Veo lists its Marina District address as 2100 Union Street, with a Mission District sister shop on Valencia Street and a Petaluma shop inside the historic Treasury building at 101 Petaluma Boulevard North.

On its eye exams page, Veo says it offers comprehensive exams, contact lens fittings, retinal imaging and other ocular needs with an independent optometrist on site at Veo Optics Marina. The FAQ points customers to vivid-optometry.com to book an appointment.

The exam room is a practical advantage on Union Street: the optometrist and the frame wall are in the same shop, so a new prescription and a new pair can be one trip.

Veo's FAQ answers the insurance question bluntly: Does Veo take any eye insurance? Nope. Absolutely not. And we never have. The reasoning it gives is that insurance labs treat your glasses as one of thousands of orders, and Veo prefers to keep everything in house so it can monitor each pair and deliver optimal vision.

If you rely on vision benefits, that is a real reason to look elsewhere. If you have a flexible spending account, health savings account or medical reimbursement account, the FSA and HSA page says eyewear qualifies as an eligible expense.

Veo's FSA, HSA and MRA page explains the accounts in plain terms: money set aside pre-tax through an employer for medical needs that insurance may not cover, with eyewear on the eligible list. It points out that some accounts, an FSA in particular, do not roll over, so unused flex dollars can disappear at the end of the plan period, while HSA and MRA balances do roll over.

The page suggests these funds for unexpected eyewear emergencies, for building a collection of frames, or for the times when vision insurance benefits are used up or do not cover much. Check the rules and your contributions with your HR department first, as the page itself advises, and bring the account card to the Marina shop.

On its Our Vision page, Veo says it owns and operates its own lens lab in San Francisco. A team member the site calls Dad personally hand mounts each and every pair himself. Mounting is the step where a lens is cut and fitted into the frame, and it is where small errors turn into a pair that sits crooked or pinches.

The company pairs that claim with a guarantee of satisfaction and, on the same page, a plain policy that all sales are final with no exchanges or refunds. That is stricter than most optical shops, so take your time at the frame wall before you sign.

Beyond the brands Veo selects from other makers, the shop sells its own line, Jamestown Eyewear. Its page says these frames and stylings are designed by the same people who founded Veo Optics in San Francisco, and it calls them the shop's premier frames, with the utmost quality and subtle detail.

A house line is a good first question if you are unsure where to start. Try a Jamestown frame beside a frame from another maker and let the mirror settle the comparison.

Veo runs styling appointments through an online booking page, with a clear rule on the same page: appointments are reserved for stylings, appointments are limited, and customers should book one per person. If all you need is an adjustment or to pick up finished glasses, you can walk in at any time during business hours.

That split keeps the stylists free for the people who want help choosing a frame. If you are arriving just to browse, a styling appointment is the better way to use a busy Saturday.

Skip Veo Optics if your glasses must be billed through insurance, if you need an exchange policy, or if you need to walk out wearing a finished pair the same day. The store is better suited to people who value a hand-mounted finish and are comfortable choosing carefully.

If you want another independent in the same district to compare against, San Francisco Optics by Alexander Daas is also in the Marina, which makes a back-to-back afternoon possible.

Union Street is made for strolling. Walk west toward the Presidio side for the green space around Crissy Field and the Palace of Fine Arts, or east toward the shops of Cow Hollow and the Fort Mason Center on the bay. The Lyon Street Steps, a long public staircase at the Pacific Heights end of the neighborhood, reward a short climb with a wide view of the bay and Marin.

Because the optician is on the main commercial strip, you can stack a fitting with lunch or a walk without any backtracking.

Muni's 41 Union and 45 Union/Stockton buses serve Union Street, and the 22 Fillmore crosses it a few blocks away. Street parking in the Marina and Cow Hollow fills quickly on weekends, so the bus is the calmer way to arrive.

Veo Optics Marina is at 2100 Union Street, San Francisco, CA 94123. Eye exams are booked online through vivid-optometry.com, and the Marina shop is the one Veo names for on-site exams. Veo does not accept vision insurance, and its FSA and HSA page lists eyewear as an eligible expense. Veo's site says glasses are all sold in store and can be shipped after you have visited one of the shops.