Dennis Pone fits patient Anna Matticoli with eyeglasses on July 31, 2013 at AJ Pone Opticians in Princeton. (Staff photo by Samantha Sciarrotta.)
Optometrist Dennis Pone helps others see things clearly
Dennis Pone loves to help people see things clearly.
He said it’s why he has served on the Hamilton Township council for the last seven years. But when he’s not serving as a councilman, Pone helps open eyes in a literal sense, as an optician. Pone and his brother, Dave, took over their father’s business, A.J. Pone Opticians, in 1995. Pone runs the Princeton location, while Dave operates out of the original Hamilton location.
Pone, 55, started in the business immediately after he graduated from LaSalle University with a bachelor’s in English and a minor in business administration in 1980. A lifelong Hamilton resident, Pone also attended Sayen Elementary School, Reynolds Middle School and The Hun School.
Both Dennis and Dave made frequent trips to their father’s office as children. Dave said seeing his father’s “passion” made it easy for he and his brother to feel the same.
“My dad was a very hands-on dad, like I am,” Dennis Pone said. “He coached our teams. He was involved. We would definitely go into the office with him as little kids. Not so much do anything, but we spent time. That’s what he did, and he had to be there a lot. If we wanted to see dad, that’s how we did it. Sometimes, he would go in on the weekends to finish up some work, and we’d go with him. We spent time around the business our whole lives.”
Dennis said he tried to emulate his father’s parenting style by being a constant presence in his children’s lives. He was and still is an active father to Justin, 25, and Alyssa, 22. He coached at HTRBA and was involved with Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts when Justin participated.
Al Pone opened the business in Hamilton in 1963. Dennis Pone said his father had done a number of jobs out of college, including stints in bookkeeping and accounting. It was his experience working for Saul Marcus at Marcus Optical, a wholesale optical lab in Ewing, though, that helped him find a permanent career.
“He kind of fell in love with the business,” Pone said. “He was a pretty bright guy. He was also very entrepreneurial. He decided that he’d like to open his own optical store. We are the oldest standing independent opticians in all of Mercer County. We’ve kept the business running since then.”
Marcus helped Al fund the business and even provided a learning space for Dave, who spent a summer working for him in Ewing.
Dennis became a licensed optician and a licensed technician in 1983, after three additional years of schooling, including 32 hours per week of apprenticeship. He started classes a week after graduating from LaSalle and received his state license after taking exams for both fabricating and selling eyeglasses. The brothers purchased the store from their father when he started to close in on retirement.
Dave said he couldn’t have chosen a better business partner.
“It means a lot to be able to work with my brother,” Dave said. “We make a great team. We have a lot of respect for each other. We’re different, but it helps. We have different ideas, but it’s easy to respect that. We feel very fortunate to be able to do what we love.”
Pone said the decision to go into the family business was a natural one. Their uncle was an optician, as well.
“I think it was easy,” Pone said. “It seems to be in our blood. I didn’t feel any type of pressure to do well. We have grown and expanded my dad’s business, and he’d be proud today at what it is. The business is doing quite well in a very difficult economy, both stores. Thirty-three years later, I still love it.”
The business celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Pone said its continued success has everything to do with his father.
“It’s our philosophy,” he said. “We learned this from our dad. It’s how we treat people. We treat people the way we’d like to be treated. We give people the best advice and the best possible choices for their particular situation. We listen.”
Pone lives in Hamilton with his wife, Donna and their daughter. When he’s not working as an optician and councilman, they like to swim and take trips down the shore.
What he loves most, though, is staying fit with his family.
“My kids are adults now, but we’ve found some fun things,” he said. “I like spending time with my family. I like exercising with them.”
Much to Dennis’ satisfaction, Justin recently took up golf, a sport he wasn’t interested in as a teenager. They play whenever they can. Dennis and Alyssa, who moved back home this year after graduating from Fordham University, both love to walk, so on joint off days and weekends, the two go on long, multi-mile treks around Hamilton.
Dave said that’s just all a part of his brother’s character.
“He is one of the greatest guys I’ve ever met,” Dave said. “He’s such a people person. His greatest fault is also his best attribute: he will never hesitate to put someone else first. He will listen to anyone and do exactly what they need done. He makes a great politician and businessman. He’s a great guy to be around.”
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