Raquel and Hugo Cortez Marques are siblings and the “face” of Cortez Marques Oculista, an optical store established by their father in Penafiel.

ÓpticaPro: Cortez Marque Oculista commemorates 30 years. Nowadays, your father no longer manages the optical stores. How will you build upon the heritage he left?

Raquel Cortez Marques: Our father stepped down to embrace another project, putting our mother, current owner, and two of the three siblings in charge of the family business. We grew up in the optical store and it would make sense to carry on and renew the house’s prestige. We never questioned that. This change took place over a year ago and things have been going well. At the moment we have two stores, one downtown in Penafiel and a branch in São Vicente’s Spa, also in the same municipality.

OP: Will you follow the same guidelines or do you seek to reinvent yourselves?

Hugo Cortez Marques: Our main concern is to continue to be ourselves. That is to say, to maintain the service’s high quality level, and in this regard we will keep the same philosophy. The most important thing is our client’s ocular health problems’ resolution. To continue to match product quality with fashion, technology and innovation. An attitude that allows us to say that we are one of the few optical stores where an eyepiece can be built or restored. However, we already have own projects to renovate Cortez Marques Oculista in various aspects. Step-by-step and in due time is how things will be done. We care about having an even larger approach to our public, our people, but performed in a coherent and transparent way. We are a proud family of this city and we like to transpose that love into the way we serve. However, we are aware that nowadays business is not only an indoors matter. We must explore new horizons, new platforms. Like the internet, for example. It is paramount to follow through with the online requests and contacts. We would like to preserve this house’s legacy with an ever-present personalized service, updated to the present and to the new consumption and buying paradigm.

Read the full interview in ÓpticaPro 155.