St Albans marked the opening of its £300,000 opticians and audiology hub in the Sainsbury’s store in Everard Close. 

To mark Specsavers opening, deputy mayor of St Albans, councillor Syed Abidi, and Specsavers co-founder Dame Mary Perkins were in attendance. 

The new store can be found in front of the checkout tills and the investment has seen the addition of two new testing rooms – taking the total to eight fully serviced Specsavers testing rooms, along with a brand-new hearing booth, contact lens facilities and more. 

Herts Advertiser: St Albans Partners and Dame Mary Perkins.St Albans Partners and Dame Mary Perkins. (Image: Specsavers)

Cllr Syed Abidi and Dame Mary Perkins cut the ribbon at the opening. 

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Herts Advertiser: The ribbon cutting of the new Specsavers.The ribbon cutting of the new Specsavers. (Image: Specsavers)

This is the second Specsavers store in St Albans, with the first store based in Market Place. 

Ali Hashim, optometrist director of Specsavers St Albans, said: "We’ve been looking forward to this day for a while now and retail director Lewis and I are so happy that it’s now here.” 

Herts Advertiser: Celebrating the opening of the new Specsavers in St Albans.Celebrating the opening of the new Specsavers in St Albans. (Image: Specsavers)

"Our mission is to offer great value and quality to the St Albans community, and this goes past providing optical and audiological care.” 

"With the new store we can continue to help and support St Albans, both on the high street and further afield." 

Herts Advertiser: The Specsavers grand opening celebrations.The Specsavers grand opening celebrations. (Image: Specsavers)

Lewis Carroll, retail director for Specsavers St Albans, said: "I started my career at Specsavers, working as a dispensing optician and I’ve worked my way up to becoming a store director of two stores. We want to provide this same opportunity for the next generation in St Albans. 

Herts Advertiser: Specsavers grand opening cake in St Albans.Specsavers grand opening cake in St Albans. (Image: Specsavers)

"The support, assistance and guidance Specsavers has given me over the past 28 years is a big reason why I am able to have this career and we want to continue to offer these opportunities for our residents." 

The store also has an OCT (optical coherence tomography) machine. The technology can detect a range of eye conditions like glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration earlier than traditional methods. 

Herts Advertiser: The grand opening of the new St Albans Specsavers.The grand opening of the new St Albans Specsavers. (Image: Specsavers)

                                                                                                        

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The St Albans team are also active members in the community, supporting local clubs and charities such as sponsoring the St Albans City Youth Football Club, and raising over £500 for the Turkey and Syria Earthquake Appeal. 

Herts Advertiser: Attendees of the Specsavers opening in St Albans.Attendees of the Specsavers opening in St Albans. (Image: Specsavers)

The store is now open seven days a week from 9am to 6pm from Monday to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday.