If the mall has poor traffic then he should pull out of it before it bleeds his business to death. Judging by the anecdotal evidence you have given, this type of retail store is a "Sunset Industry."
If you can, try to figure out what the next big thing might be for this industry.
Forget about discounting your products. Its a game you can not win. Find rich people who need more eyewear to enhance their lifestyle. Tell them how they need greater quantities of high quality eyewear. Treat them well, charge full list price with great service thrown in. Ask for referrals.

Hire someone to deal with that computer stuff. Get them to create, maintain and mine a great database.
Carve out a new niche and own it.

> Hi Everyone,

> I have a marketing problem/situation that
> I'm hoping you all can help me out with. A
> friend (and potential client), Tom, is an
> optician with a store in a good-size outdoor
> mall. He has been there about 7 years, if
> memory serves. It's a prime location, right
> in the middle of town (Northern NJ), but he
> says that business has been particularly
> slow for all the tenants the past few
> months. Frankly, he is barely paying his
> bills. He acknowledges that November is
> usually a slow month in his industry, but as
> I said, this has been going on for awhile.

> Tom has a very nice store, well lit with
> very nice displays. He prides himself on
> carrying only quality merchandise at
> reasonable prices and is very
> patient-focussed. He is very friendly and
> recognizes regular patients by name, knows
> their families, occupations, hobbies, etc.,
> and keeps detailed records. Overall, a very
> classy operation.

> I have presented him with many good
> marketing ideas/concepts (a la Jay Abraham
> & others), which he likes and sees the
> value in. The main problem (and his main
> weakness) is that he is slightly
> technophobic and doesn't own a computer, so
> naturally he doesn't have his patient info
> in any kind of database that can be used to
> do mailings. I've given him some advice on
> hardware & software, and between Tom's
> wife and I, we have convinced him that he
> needs to do this. (It will be a major
> project, but I recommended he start with a
> small segment -- namely, the more affluent
> patients.) But, he doesn't feel he can spare
> the bucks, at this point. Plus, he has some
> aversion to leasing a PC or laptop, partly
> because he doesn't want to get locked into a
> 2-year contract and then go out of business
> in 3 months....

> He doesn't do much advertising, though he
> has recently been testing display ads in a
> very small, bi-weekly, local paper that
> targets some of the more affluent
> communities in our area. They haven't pulled
> very well, so Tom let me design a new ad to
> test, which just came out last week. The
> headline is "Are You Suffering From Any
> Of These Eye Problems?", followed by 5
> bullets, four lines of text urging regular
> examinations and pro-active eyecare; then
> his name/address/phone & logo, flanked
> by photos of him and the optometrist. The
> bottom is two coupons, one for "$29 Eye
> Exams (reg. $80) every Friday" and one
> for a Holiday Special of $50 off lenses w/
> purchase of new frames. I followed all the
> rules (I think) about fonts/typeface and
> color. We both thought it would work pretty
> well, but tonight he said he hasn't had ANY
> response.

> Tom continues to blame the economy in
> general (national, not just local) for the
> poor business and doesn't really blame me
> for the new ad not pulling, but I'm not sure
> that's the only problem. In fact, if we
> could just do some mailings to current and
> inactive patients, I think we could get him
> some business. Since this doesn't look like
> it's gonna happen real soon, I'm struggling
> to come up with something that's going to
> bring him some cash flow before he decides
> to pack it in.

> So, after doing some heavy thinking since
> talking with Tom earlier this evening, here
> are the 3 things I've come up with. 1)
> Consider getting a small, Small Business
> loan; although, I don't think he'll like
> that one, especially since another local
> optician is going out of business and is
> heavily in debt. 2) Something we've already
> discussed, which is to mail to other
> businesses' customers/clients, either as a
> JV or endorsed mailing or renting the
> list(s), etc. Of course, with any mailing
> there are printing & postage costs, but
> even a limited, test-mailing might prove
> worthwhile, then re-invest in more mailings,
> and so on. Also, I figure we may be able to
> trade for Tom's products/services or perhaps
> for future use of his list. And that brings
> me to... 3) Barter. I was just reading some
> Jay Abraham materials on barter, and it
> dawned on me that this might be just the
> ticket. We might be able to barter Tom's
> products/services (at retail) to pay off
> some of his bills. And, we could barter them
> to local radio stations (and maybe newspaper
> or local TV/cable) in exchange for
> advertising.

> Now, my questions for you guys & gals
> are:
> 1) Does anyone have any other suggestions
> for Tom and/or for his fellow tenants at the
> mall (maybe a group event)?
> 2) Any ideas why my ad didn't work? (I'll
> see if I can get a copy from Tom or the
> paper, so I can scan it in.)
> 3) Have any of you done any trades/bartering
> of products/services like I described, and
> what were your experiences?
> 4) As for radio & other media, does it
> make more sense to approach the
> Marketing/Advertising Director to suggest
> the barter deal, or should I go straight to
> the General Manager? And, what is the best
> place to get the up-to-date names/numbers
> for these people? (Yellow Pages doesn't even
> list all the local stations.)
> 5) Any recommendations on how (not) to
> "pitch" these people?

> To all those who have read thru all of this,
> you do me great honor. I greatly appreciate
> any suggestions or input any of you have.

> Best Regards,
> Chris Harris