About Our History

Reflecting Back:

At the heart of any family business is, naturally, the family. Founder J. Peter Buenau wasn’t only an optometrist. He was also a Baptist minister and family man who raised five children- four of whom later joined the family business.

The three brothers, Mike’s father, Harold Buenau, and uncle, John Buenau, became optometrists and took over Buenau’s Opticians in the 1940s after returning from the war. Peter became an optician. Harold, John, and Peter served their country in World War II for four years. Aunt Catherine and Grandpa J. Peter ran the business’s daily operations during this time.

Eventually, John Buenau went on to run the satellite office in nearby Glens Falls, New York. Mike’s mother wasn’t active in the business but did payroll and other administrative duties behind the scenes. Aunt Catherine was a significant contributor as the frame stylist and purchaser.

With such a longstanding family tradition, one might think Mike always anticipated joining his father and uncles. But he had a different passion: cars. “I always wanted to be a mechanic and work: on cars,” Mike says. Mike worked in a gas station during his teenage years. He recalls a gentleman in the gas station asking him why he didn’t want to join the family business. “That got me thinking why I wasn’t considering it,” says Mike. “My mother helped me transfer from one college to another. I enrolled in Buffalo, and the rest is history.”

Upon graduation, Mike’s father offered him a job as an optician. “My father said, “When do you want to start?” I said, ‘Monday morning.’ That was 53 years ago,” says Mike.

Buenau’s Opticians, Inc., ushered in a third generation in the family business with Mike on staff as an optician. Mike’s father performed the eye exams, and Mike filled the prescriptions. The father-son team complemented each other perfectly. “It wasn’t like there were two cooks in the kitchen,” says Mike. “It was a great working relationship because we didn’t do the same thing. There was never a conflict.”

In those days, optometrists handled all aspects of the business, including fabricating the lenses and dispensing the glasses. But Buenau’s Opticians, Inc., had a bigger vision.

“My father and uncle had two separate businesses,” explains Mike. “That way, we could fill outside prescriptions, but there wasn’t a conflict. It captured both markets, allowing them to see more people. What insight! Now, everyone is doing this.”

Buenau’s Opticians, Inc. made another progressive advancement when Mike spearheaded the contact lens movement in the 1970s. “In the early days, you were only a contact lens or a glasses patient,” Mike says. “Then soft lenses came out.” Now, patients have the opportunity to wear both contact lenses and glasses.

Over the decades, Buenau’s Opticians, Inc., has seen significant advances in patient care and treatment. Testing equipment is computerized, and the exam room has become more sophisticated. And yet some things remain virtually the same as when J. Peter Bueanu started the business more than a century ago. “A lot of the equipment is the same-just, a bit more modernized. But it’s the same principles and mechanics,” Mike says.

Something else that has remained the same? A commitment to doing the right thing. “I attribute our success to hard work and family values,” Mike says. “We treat people like family when they come in. It might not make the most money, but we always do what’s in the patient’s best interest”.

Mike’s wife, Lisa, admires his passion. “Michael is as enthusiastic about his work and the optical field today as he was when I met him 35 years ago,” she says. “He enjoys what he does and is a highly respected practitioner in the field”.

Sometimes that passion might mean helping a patient out of a tricky situation. Mike has been known to assist patients whenever they need him-he has even helped a patient in the middle of the night when a contact lens got stuck.

“My dad is known in the area for going above and beyond,” says Michele Ciccone, Mike’s daughter. “He treats people the way he treats his own family. When someone else cannot help, he’ll try different things to help the patient. He’s the go-to guy in the community.”

For Mike, it’s just part of carrying on the family tradition. “I want to give people the best vision possible,” he says. “I love helping people.” Mike has enjoyed a fulfilling career in the family business and wouldn’t change anything-except. Perhaps, he might have become an optometrist. “It’s only because the scope of practice has changed,” he says. “If I were to sit down and talk with someone, I’d urge them to go to optometry school. But looking back, I have no regrets.”