You may know her as Sue, the owner and proprietor of Visions, or simply “the sunglasses lady.” She’s been a staple of The Windmill community for some 30 years—selling quality sunglasses, reading glasses, and clip-ons. Sue’s journey to The Windmill is a story of how life can be a winding path that ends exactly where you need to be.
For starters, her parents emigrated from Sicily and started a family together in Rochester, New York, where Sue was raised and resides today. This intercontinental trip would put Sue within a stone’s throw of The Windmill’s future location.
If this happenstance wasn’t enough, Sue’s career began far from the eyeglass industry. In times past, she worked as a banking travel coordinator and later as a travel planner—admitting she had quite the knack for it.
In 1992, her son started a small business named Shade Tree Greetings, and Sue became their invoicing and sales professional—a title she’s held ever since. Shortly after, another domino effect would set Sue’s course toward The Windmill.
It started with the seemingly small decision to visit her lawyer’s office in person rather than calling one day. Upon visiting, Sue chatted with an employee who shared their plans to open a flea market nearby.
They asked if Sue might be interested in selling there.
After considering the offer, Sue politely declined.
The story would have ended there, except she reconsidered later that night, thinking, “This feels like opportunity knocking.”
So, Sue returned to the law office another day to accept the offer but confessed she didn’t know what to sell. By chance, the flea market had a surplus of sunglasses and reading glasses. Just like that, the wheels were set fast in motion.
Sue hopped around at different markets until one of her colleagues referred her to The Windmill in the heart of the Finger Lakes of Upstate NY. Without a quality glasses vendor at the time, they said Sue would surely be a success. How right they were!
Sue applied to become a merchant—and a 30-year tradition of glasses at The Windmill began.
Besides her wide variety of sunglasses, clip-ons, and readers—Sue is best known for never raising her prices. In fact, she’s only reduced them over the years, a refreshing sight for sore eyes.
Sue says she gets more than enough out of making visitors happy. She also enjoys reconnecting with returning clients, many of whom she’s served for decades.
“People at The Windmill become like family,” Sue shared, “I love em’!”
When she’s not working hard at The Windmill or her son’s small business, Sue enjoys spending time with her six great-grandchildren, going out to dinner, and dancing.
To stock up on affordable, quality glasses or just say “Hi” to your friendly neighborhood eyewear vendor—find Sue at the center of The Windmill’s South Side of Shops.
