Johnson Audiology knows how to make a waiting room comfy, with lit candles, bowls of chocolate candy and a wide selection of Kuerig single-serving coffee containers that clients can use to fill a ceramic mug and have a cup of coffee while they wait.
That welcoming attitude may be one reason why the hearing aid business, owned by husband-and-wife Derek and Megan Johnson, has expanded. They will open a fourth office this week in Hixson at 5617 Highway 153 in the Summit Suites building just north of the Target plaza.
“When you’re the best, people are going to come,” said Derek Johnson, who runs the business side of things, while Megan, who has degrees in audiology from the the University of Tennessee and the University of Florida, runs the medical side.
Despite a changing hearing aid industry in which competition has come from big box stores and online, the couple have grown their business.
They started in 2009 as a two-person operation with their main office at 1618 Gunbarrel Road in Chattanooga, an office in Cartersville, Ga., then opened an office in Cartersville in 2012, and an office Franklin, Tenn., that opened in November and then new office on Highway 153 in Hixson.
“A lot of the reason that we’re going to Hixson is for the convenience of our patients,” Megan Johnson said.
Laura Ford, a doctor of audiology who’s new to Chattanooga, will run the new Hixson office, with Megan Johnson stopping by regularly to see patients.
Johnson Audiology can diagnose and treat conditions beyond simple hearing loss, such as tinnitus, a ringing or noise in the ears, and hyperacusis, an increased sensitivity to everyday sounds.
“We only hire doctors of audiology,” Derek said.
Johnson Audiology offers a variety of brands in a variety of styles. The Johnsons say they were first Chattanooga hearing aid provider to offer the Lyric brand.
Their goal is to sell clients a quality device and then does follow up calls to make sure it works. The office does follow-up calls, and purchase of a device includes follow-up visits, for hearing aid cleaning and battery replacement.
“Our patients, their hearing aids last an average of five years,” Megan said. “It’s an investment in the quality of your life.”
Megan, who grew up in a family of five children, got interested in hearing because her father was born with hearing loss in one ear.
“I grew up with a dad who’s hearing-impaired,” she said. “I grew up watching him struggle.”
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or twitter.com/meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.