Bailey Nelson Willis Street is an optometry store and eyewear shop in the heart of Wellington's CBD, at 69 Willis Street. Part of the Bailey Nelson network, it pairs full eye tests with a broad range of frames — glasses, sunglasses, blue light glasses, plus gifts and accessories — all under one roof.
The clinical side takes a preventative approach: optometrists are trained to detect potential eye problems before symptoms appear, using state-of-the-art equipment to check both vision and eye health. Tests also assess visual function, including the effects of extended reading or computer work, with solutions offered to reduce eye strain. Bailey Nelson recommends an eye test at least every two years, or more frequently if your optometrist suggests it. Optos scanning technology, which looks deeper for early signs of eye conditions, is available in selected stores.
Contact lens wearers are well catered for, with favourite brands like Acuvue Oasys, Dailies Total 1 and Biofinity at competitive prices, alongside Bailey Nelson's own daily and monthly lenses, including toric and multifocal fits. Existing customers can reorder online through the contacts account, and external prescriptions are welcome. Appointments can be booked online or by phone, and Southern Cross members have a dedicated support page.
On Willis Street, right in the middle of Wellington's CBD, Bailey Nelson runs one of its New Zealand optometry stores — a place where clinical eye care and a full eyewear shop share the same floor. It's the kind of setup that turns looking after your eyes into a single errand: have your vision and eye health checked by an optometrist, then browse glasses, sunglasses and contact lenses without going anywhere else.
The clinical side of the store is where it earns its keep. Bailey Nelson's optometrists are trained to detect potential eye problems before you have symptoms, enabling early diagnosis and treatment that can help protect your vision for the long term. During an eye test they check both your vision and the health of your eyes using state-of-the-art equipment.
In selected stores, Optos scanning technology allows the optometrist to look deeper, picking up the early signs of multiple eye conditions before you've noticed anything yourself. If that kind of detailed imaging matters to you, it's worth asking the Willis Street team what's available at this location.
Testing also covers how your eyes cope day to day. Your optometrist will assess your visual function to determine the impact of extended reading or computer work on your eyes, and offer solutions to reduce eye strain — genuinely useful for anyone logging long hours in front of a screen, which in the middle of the CBD is most people.
As for cadence, Bailey Nelson's advice is simple: have your eyes tested at least every two years, or more frequently if your optometrist recommends it.
Beyond the testing room, the store carries the Bailey Nelson range. That covers prescription glasses and sunglasses, blue light glasses for screen-heavy days, plus gifts and accessories. The brand designs and makes its own frames and lenses, so what's on display is its own work rather than a patchwork of other labels — a coherent collection you can work through at your own pace, with staff on hand to help with fit and lens choices.
Already holding a prescription from another optometrist? That's no barrier. Bailey Nelson welcomes external prescriptions, so you can bring a script from elsewhere and have it made up into glasses here. Handy resources on the website — a buyer's guide, a contact lens guide and instructions for measuring your PD — make the research side easier before you even step inside.
Contact lens wearers get particularly thorough coverage. The store stocks all the favourite brands at competitive prices, including Acuvue Oasys, Dailies Total 1 and Biofinity, alongside Bailey Nelson's own contacts — which span daily disposables, premium dailies, monthlies, and toric and multifocal fits for astigmatism and presbyopia.
The catalogue runs deep. Johnson & Johnson's Acuvue family appears in daily, reusable, toric and multifocal form. Alcon contributes Dailies Total 1, Air Optix HydraGlyde and Precision 1. CooperVision supplies Biofinity (including extended-range and Energys variants), MyDay, cAir, Clariti and Proclear, while Bausch + Lomb's BioTrue and Ultra lines round out the shelves. Whatever your prescription looks like — strong, astigmatic, presbyopic — there's a fair chance your usual lens is here.
Reordering doesn't even require a trip. Existing contact lens customers can log in to the Bailey Nelson contacts account online and restock, with the Willis Street team on hand for fittings, trials and advice. Special offers appear regularly on the site too, for those who like a deal on their lenses or frames.
The store is at 69 Willis Street in Wellington's CBD, and appointments can be booked online in a few clicks — pick Willis Street, choose a time that suits and you're set. If you're coming in, check the Google store listing the website points to for up-to-date opening hours before you set off. Southern Cross members will find a dedicated page explaining how their membership works with Bailey Nelson.
Whether it's a routine two-yearly check, a first pair of glasses, a fresh supply of dailies or relief for tired screen eyes, Bailey Nelson Willis Street keeps the whole process under one roof — book, test, choose, and walk out seeing clearly.