Karim Hakimi (Persian: کریم حکیمی) (born 1933) is an Iranian-Canadian entrepreneur and

optician An optician is an individual who fits glasses or contact lenses by filling a refractive prescription from an optometrist or ophthalmologist. They are able to translate and adapt ophthalmic prescriptions, dispense products, and work with acces ...

, known for founding

Hakim Optical Hakim Optical Lab Ltd. is a Canadian optical chain, the largest privately owned optical chain in Canada. In 2016, it had about 160 stores. Founder Karim Hakimi, a native of Iran, learned to make lenses from old window glass as a child. After ...

, a large chain of eyeglass stores across Canada.

Early life

Hakimi was born in Iran. At the age of five, his father died, forcing Hakimi to leave school to work to support his family. He found work in Iran grinding discarded window glass into lenses for magnifying glasses and eyeglasses. This experience taught him much about the techniques and equipment needed by an optician. At 14, Hakimi attended night school to complete his elementary education, learning to read and write. Later, following service in the Iranian navy, he immigrated first to Germany and then to Switzerland, where he furthered his education in the optician's craft.

Career

Hakimi finally settled in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario, Canada, where he found work in the field of ophthalmic lens grinding. He saved his money until he could start his own shop. In 1967, Hakimi opened his own lens-grinding laboratory in the former Elwood Hotel in Toronto, buying and rebuilding equipment from a shuttered facility in Chicago. At first, he sold his lenses

door-to-door Door-to-door is a canvassing technique that is generally used for sales, marketing, advertising, evangelism or campaigning, in which the person or persons walk from the door of one house to the door of another, trying to sell or advertise a pr ...

, directly to optician shops. Soon he was able to save enough money to open his first retail shop, selling glasses by day and working nights to fulfil orders. At first, Hakimi offered glasses for /pair ($12 for

bifocals Bifocals are eyeglasses with two distinct optical powers correcting vision at both long and short distances. Bifocals are commonly prescribed to people with presbyopia who also require a correction for myopia, hyperopia, and/or astigmatism. H ...

), which far undersold any competitors. He was able to raise his prices 50 percent from this starting point while still underselling his competitors and assuring continued demand for his glasses. From this beginning as a single retail outlet, Hakimi has built Hakim Optical into a national chain of over 150 outlets with over 600 employees serving the eastern provinces of Canada.

Awards and recognition

Based on Hakimi's "

rags-to-riches Rags to riches (also rags-to-riches) refers to any situation in which a person rises from poverty to wealth, and in some cases from absolute obscurity to heights of fame, fortune and celebrity—sometimes instantly. This is a common archetype in ...

" success, he has been widely recognized as an outstanding immigrant to Canada. * 2005: He was knighted by the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

in a Ceremony at Queen's Park in Toronto. * 2008: Recognized by the City of Toronto by renaming Scarborough Street to Hakimi Avenue in his honor * 2011: Named one of Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award winners by ''Canadian Immigrant'' * 2012: Awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal () or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. There are four versions of the medal: one iss ...

* 2014: The City of Toronto renamed a portion of Lebovic Avenue "Hakimi Avenue" in honour of Hakimi. At the northwest corner of Hakimi and Eglinton Avenue is a Hakim Optical store. * 2016: Lebovic LRT stop is renamed "Hakimi Lebovic stop" to represent the street where the stop will be located.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hakimi, Karim Canadian businesspeople Living people 1933 births Iranian emigrants to Canada