Spex Appeal open second shop in Paisley town centre

Spex Appeal is bringing style and savings to the bespectacled people of Paisley, Claire Elliot speaks to Lynn and Alan

Community spirit is something that has long underpinned the attitudes of the people of Paisley, and it is a commodity that is deep at the heart of the newest addition to the high street. Spex Appeal is run by dynamic husband and wife duo Lynn and Alan whose their new second location sits pride of place across from the Cenotaph. 

Spex Appeal began as a one-woman operation, which had Lynn driving all around Renfrewshire to clients, delivering them high-end glasses at bargain prices. However, through word of mouth, the business quickly grew and Alan began helping out. 

“It grew arms and legs from there,” he says, “we were doing car boot sales in Stirling and had customers up in Dundee, so we built a summer house in the garden we operated out of there for four years.”

Amongst a sea of businesses that struggled to survive the pandemic, it was Lynn and Alan’s community spirit and willingness to go above and beyond for their customers that allowed their business not only to survive but to thrive during a time of social distancing. 

“At one point we were doing doorstep appointments,” Alan says, “we would turn up at people’s front doors with trays of glasses and wait in the car while they chose. Or we would have folk come to us and we’d have the glasses laid out in the car boot and open it remotely. It was a bit hairy at times.” 

The new store on Paisley’s High Street

Post-pandemic, the couples’ business continued to boom with people emerging from lockdown in desperate need of new specs. With both Lynn and Alan having left their full-time jobs to focus on Spex Appeal, it was then that they opened up their first shop in Mile End Mill. 

“Twelve years ago when I was handing out business cards at a car boot sale, I never thought it would get to this level, never mind the next level,” says Lynn, “I just wanted a little more money coming in and a better work-life balance, that was the main thing.”

The couple’s grounded and light-hearted approach to serving their public is what has earned them such a loyal customer base, who travel from far and wide not only for Spex Appeal’s competitive prices, but for their mix of exemplary expertise and insatiable sense of fun. The couple aim to provide a great experience for every customer who steps into one of their stores. 

“People say that coming here is like a social event. As far as I’m concerned, if someone’s trusting us to make glasses for them and spend their money with us, they’ve got to enjoy themselves,” says Alan. The couple pride themselves on creating a pressure-free shopping environment. “If you come in and see a pair of glasses that you think are ‘alright’, I would recommend you don’t buy them because you need to be sure. They’ve got to be better than ‘alright’.”

Lynn and Alan are also no strangers to going the extra mile for their customers, quite literally. The pair have regular customers in Birmingham, Berlin, Western Australia and Los Angeles. “We were telling the guy who picks us up from the airport when we go on holiday about the business and he was interested,” Alan says, “so the next time we went over, Lynn took two trays of glasses with her. He picked his frames and she measured him up and we sent his glasses back over with my dad two weeks later.”

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With the business expanding to a second shop, the team has expanded as well as the services that Spex Appeal will offer. “We’ll be offering testing and contact lenses now but aside from that nothing else will change. The prices are going to stay the same,” Alan declares.

With a broad range of both budget and designer frames available at a fraction of the price of major retailers, it’s easy to understand the appeal of Spex Appeal. “Our budget frames start at £20 and our single vision lenses start at £30,” says Lynn, “we also stock high-end brands like Ralph Lauren, Oakley, Ray-Ban, Versace and Prada, whose frames range from about £70 to £160 with us.”

What started as a side project for Lynn has now blossomed into a beloved local business. The couple’s commitment to providing exceptional service as well as affordable options keeps their loyal customer base coming back for more, and their distinctive orange-and-black shopfront is sure to become a pillar of the High Street for years to come. 

Spex Appeal, 5 High Street, Paisley, PA1 2AE, 0141 889 8622, website.