Rapp Optical Limited

Large selection of designer frames — check
Jacked up pricing on frames — check
Jacked up pricing on lenses — CHECK
Snotty & Pretentious Hipsters — check
If you are a masochist and enjoy being submissive then I highly recommend visiting this store. If you are awash with cash get a kick out of paying over $ 1000 for a product which can be acquired elsewhere for half the price then stop whatever you’re doing and race to this store NOW. One of Rapp’s tattooed wrenches will happily provide you with consultative advice whilst reminding you to know your place, b*tch.
You don’t visit Rapp to merely purchase frames. You go for the role play, gimp! I’m not sure what’s on the menu as YMMV, but if you ask nicely I’m sure they’ll kick your bottom on your way out the door at no additional cost.

This store has an excellent selection of product, knowledgeable staff and top notch service.
What more can one say?
In #tmi: I picked out some shade in about a minute, much to the surprise of the female stylist (does she still work there I wonder?) — I had been in the store the previous year, when I wasn’t really looking for new summer shades.
Being back on College jogged my recall, and I recalled there were some great, and spendy sunglasses I didn’t need then, but that I could justify now.
The stylist was very, very sick, or had a hoarse throat, she sounded like Phyllis Diller smoked too mouch. After 1 minute, I tried them on, she gave me the thumbs up, but called over the optometrist (owner?) to get a 2^nd opinion, after all, I did walk in, ask, hey, do you have Bevel sunglasses? I was here last year, yadda yadda yadda, she found ‘em, produced the cc and BOOM,
new polarized shades :)
Note: Bevel produces a great line of sunglasses, and frames for eyeglasses.

After being overwhelmed by the choices when purchasing a new pair of glasses and none of them really having the wow factor, I was told to go to Rapp Optical.
And am I glad I did. Julia gave me a completely stress free, professional, seamless experience with delivery of the WOW factor.
My frames are unique and fabulous. The lenses amazing.
All in all I would highly recommend Rapp Optical for a first class experience.

Been buying my glasses at Rapp seemingly forever. Every single time the (different) sales person studied my face carefully, walked about with the small velvet tray judiciously picking a pair of frames here and there. One of those 5 or 6 frames: my accompanying fashion maven says, «Yes! That’s the pair!». .. .. .. .. . Regarding my present frames: Strangers come up to me often enough I keep a log. NYC: «Never saw glasses like that before and I live in New York City!», Up-​scale pizzeria, Cleveland, Ohio: «Oh.. . Toronto has all the best glasses!» (?!), San Francisco bus seat mate (a stranger): «I like your glasses a lot!». .. .. Brooks Brothers: «That hat! Your jacket! Those glasses! The whole nine yards!». .. .. .. . Yesterday, Toronto: My skin doctor’s receptionist: «I love your glasses — they’re green! I love green!»

Went into the store … its got a great ecclectic feel with awesome variety for glasses. My shopping experience was really fun and fell in love with so many pairs of glasses. Sometimes you go into a glasses store and u feel bad about trying so manny on but the owner was all about trying more. and more! Great willingness and help in service… patient and understanding. The owner has service integrity and it really seens like the staff truly genuinely care. They want you to find something that you love. That i did.
Now i am just waiting for the perscription. I can barely wait for them– soooo excited to express my creative side with glasses.

I purchased a set of frames from Rapp a few years ago. I live in Vancouver and was in Toronto for only a few days for business. I had been casually looking for new frames in Vancouver for about a year with no luck, and then I walked into this store on College St. The salesperson had some great suggestions, showing me maybe 20 – 30 frames. I really liked 2 or 3 of them, and eventually settled on a set of their in-​house Rapp frames. Due to my limited time, I had to bring them back to Vancouver to get the lenses installed, so I can’t comment on that part of their business.
That was an overall great experience, but not the reason I’m finally writing a review…
A couple months ago the finish on my Rapp frames began to show signs of deterioration. I think it was a combination of time, pollutants in the air, oil from my face, and an alcohol based lens cleaner I had used which worked together to dry out the frames. I contacted Rapp about this, and two separate people very quickly responded with some suggestions on how to «moisturize» my frames to take care of this «plastic rust». I used oil on the frames for a couple of weeks, and it helped but didn’t quite return the frames to their prior glory. I again contacted Rapp, and they offered to refinish my frames free of charge! The whole process was seamless and Mel Rapp was very quick to respond to my emails. It was some of the best customer service I have ever experienced from any establishment. My hats off to Mel Rapp and his team on College Street.
Also, I feel like I should respond to a couple of the comments from other Unilocalers. Rapp Optical is NOT ‘Lens Crafters’ or ‘clear​ly​con​tacts​.com’, so if you’re happy with boring regular frames (nothing wrong with that, personal choice) or «two frames for $ 99» deals, look elsewhere. But if you’re looking for hip frames and helpful staff, I would highly recommend Rapp. In addition to the Rapp frames, they carry all the typical higher-​end brands (Oliver Peoples, Paul Smith, etc).

I had been looking high and low for frames. I knew exactly what I wanted — cat eye frames. Every smaller (and cheaper) store I looked at, they didn’t have any. Even the pricier stores would have maybe one or two pairs of cat eye frames, but they were boring or wwwaaayyy over priced.
Now here comes Rapp. Through reviews on Unilocal,and watching Sandra Pittana rave about Rapp on CityLine, I knew I had to check it out.
The store is very cool, resembling more of an old antique jewelry store than an optical shop. I walked in and was greeted very warmly, and let the funky sales gal know that I wanted cat eye frames and she went to town. I loved 99% of everything she recommended. I settled on a pink and grey pair that cost about $ 300. Not bad in my opinion. I mean, I wear them everyday, and they were what I had been searching for. The one pair that were über funky that I coveted were over $ 600. Needless to say I did not get those ones!
I recommend Rapp if you want something unconventional. If you want statement pieces, and if you are willing to have items recommended for you, this is the place. Rapp is not like every other optical store, you cannot just pick up a set of frames and try them on. The frames are behind glass and laid out in a way that could be very overwhelming to some.

Yes the «Meh. I have experienced better» rating certainly applies to Rapp Optical.
Pros: They help you find your glasses and give lots of support in that step. Despite the limited stock they try their best.
Cons The stock is quite limited and the selection is not the greatest quite frankly. At the time of pick up they don’t even bother to say hello when you come back in the store. I was the only customer and had to wait. The staff were not friendly on July 20, 2010. Then they gave me my glasses but never actually checked the fit. Told me to shake my head and if they stayed on then that was just fine. I was told to come back if any issues develop. Never had a new pair that cost so much and had such lousy service overall. I have been wearing prescription lenses for 35 years. It’s a hassle to go back.
Staff are mixed in friendliness. Definitely were friendlier when getting them at the beginning. They don’t really show any expertise in actually fitting the glasses or measuring them in my opinion. I would not go there again.

If you’re looking for a fresh pair of lunettes and money isn’t a huge concern — or, like me, you have a really good health insurance plan — I doubt there’s any better place in Toronto than Rapp Optical.
Rapp carries a wide, and well curated, selection of cool and well made frames. As other reviewers have noted, there’s plenty of over the top frames that I don’t think anyone would actually wear. They also carry more basic frames, though, and everything in between.
One of the best parts about Rapp is the staff. They’re super cool and unbelievably good at picking out frames that suit your style and your face. They tend to start by picking out a diverse selection of frames for you to try on, then they’ll narrow that down as they get an idea of what you’re looking for. I ended up with a pair of glasses that wasn’t just functional but fun.
Mel Rapp also knows the technical side of glasses and lenses better than most. If you have a really complicated prescription he’s the guy to talk to.
I have to take one star off for the price. I doubt you could walk out of Rapp paying anything under $ 500 for frames and lenses. For me, glasses last a long time, so I don’t mind paying that, but it’s likely prohibitive for most people.

If I wanted to wear a freaking lab set on my head, I would go back to high school biology class. And believe me, that ain’t happening any faster than me heading back into this store.
When I walk in this store, I feel like the girl who wears the long-​sleeved Reitman’s dress to the prom. You know, a bit underdressed, a bit… less classy? But then I look at the stuff around me and think, um, isn’t this going overboard? Maybe I *want* to wear this Reitman’s dress. I mean, practically speaking, I can actually wear it more than once, and the rest of you girls are stuck with a dust collector in your closet.
BOOYEAH!
Anyway, I totally applaud its creativity. It’s cool to have a place that pushes boundaries. It’s just that when I want to see, sometimes it’s not boundaries I’m pushing.
In a roundabout way, is this why I refused to go to prom? Next stop, appearing on a psychologist’s chair near you…

The store seems to be somewhat lacking in humour– or is it? I can’t really tell. Some of the ornate designs are so out there that they feel pretty silly. But the people on the posters in the windows aren’t, really. And the people who asked if they could help me were a little, shall I say, «stern»?
Every time I am getting a new pair of glasses, I tend to browse, tend to feel kind of unimpressed– but even if I wanted to, they are mostly out of my price range. Don’t get me wrong, they have a really huge and interesting selection, and clearly cater to a clientele that appreciates quality and style. But for some reason, the colourful (which they get big points for) titanium always seems a little too stiff, too much like it was drawn on a photo of a face with a marker-​pen (that actually sounds awesome, so never mind). I like art as much as the next guy, but I think what it comes down to is that I find their designs a little distracting, on the actual faces of actual people.
Or maybe I am just jealous.