A family trip to Europe sparked the inspiration for an eyewear business in downtown Hastings.
Mikaela Krueger, who has been in the eyewear and eyecare business for 20 years, opened Optika Curated Eyewear, 620 W. Second St., earlier this month.
It was in 2017 that she decided to open her own eyewear shop.
That year she took a trip to Europe with her husband and two daughters that included a tour of four countries. She sought out small optical shops in three of the countries for inspiration and ideas of how she wanted her business back home to be like.
âWe designed Optika to feel when you walk in as though youâre walking in a small optical shop in Vienna,â Krueger said.âI wanted clients to walk into our space and feel transported to Europe.â