Lentes & Marcos set up shop in several Auckland malls, including Glenfield

Auckland shopping centre-based optical retailer Lentes & Marcos is under investigation by the Labour Inspectorate, after complaints from former staff members for allegedly being left unpaid.

In an investigative article by BusinessDesk, the Labour Inspectorate, which enforces and monitors minimum employment standards on behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, confirmed it was investigating Lentes & Marcos, had met with “several” employees and had requested company records. BusinessDesk said one staffer it had interviewed claimed to have not been paid for nine weeks’ work, while another had resigned after allegedly being owed $4,370. Another said he had been told by the company’s sole director, Roei Reiss, that the business was to be liquidated at the end of January, but it had continued to trade.

NZ Optics tried to contact Lentes & Marcos to clarify the situation but found all the shop numbers listed on its website disconnected and at least one of its six stores, in Commercial Bay, closed. Also indicating its closure, online auction site www.number8.bid is running unreserved sales of Lentes & Marcos eyewear. Reiss could not be reached by press time, while his former accountant, Tony Wei from Accounting Plus Solutions, said he no longer acts for the company.

Originating from South Africa, Lentes & Marcos (‘lenses and frames’ in Spanish) entered the New Zealand market in 2018, first offering eyewear and lenses to people with scripts and then employing its own optometrist. It is registered as Vatocel (PTY) Limited, a South African-domiciled company.