I had real progressive bifocal safety glasses made by a specialist guy who came around to our parking lot in a truck. Best glasses I ever had, they set my employer back about $650, so they should have been. So a really competent optician (unlikely to be found working in a store at the mall) can make a difference.
Post-cataract surgery my vision is (astonishingly) great down to computer distance, but I need magnification for close work, and of course I need safety glasses in the shop. I ordered about 10 different kinds of glasses from Amazon to try and for me the best of the lot were the Dewalt bifocal cheaters. I try hard not to scratch them, with only modest success, so buy them a half dozen at a time and pitch them as soon as I notice they are interfering with my vision. Costs about the same as staying supplied with sandpaper on an annual basis but much more pleasant.