Fashion forward: Vision Centers blend cutting-edge technology, style

Which U.S. company fits more Americans with glasses and contact lenses than any other? That would be Walmart, which also happens to operate the largest chain of vision centers in the country.

(To view the full report, click here.)



Vision centers are a huge facet of Walmart’s front-store business — and to the company’s position as a health-and-wellness destination. “Walmart has been helping customers manage their eyesight for more than 20 years,” and is “the largest seller of eyeglasses in the United States,” said Carmen Bauza, SVP baby, paper goods, chemicals, OTC and optical for Walmart U.S. “We are currently working to grow and expand our optical business to meet our customers’ needs.”



The company is also “the largest manufacturer of glasses in the United States,” noted Labeed Diab, president of health-and-wellness for Walmart U.S., with production facilities in Fayetteville, Ark.; Houston, Texas; and Crawfordsville, Ind. It also outsources eyewear manufacturing to two facilities in Mexico, in partnership with Essilor and Zeiss.



“It is in these labs where Walmart ... prescription eyewear is manufactured,” Bauza explained. The lab in Arkansas near Walmart headquarters, she added, is the largest production plant for corrective eyewear in the world.



Walmart hosts leased and company-owned Vision Centers in some 3,000 of its Supercenters and discount stores, including some 2,900 centers operated independently by optometrists who lease space from the company within the centers. In addition, Walmart owns roughly 100 in-store optical centers in nine states in the mid-Atlantic, Midwestern and Southwestern regions of the country, where the company itself employs doctors of optometry or ophthalmologists.



At all 3,000 of its Vision Centers, “it’s important to offer choice to our customers,” Bauza said. “Our new eyewear brands provide a good, better, best assortment, giving our customers the freedom to choose the frames that best meet their eyewear needs at an everyday low price.”



In addition, she added, “Walmart also offers exclusive cutting-edge lens technology that provides additional comfort and enhanced acuity.”



In all, “Walmart customers can choose from more than 1,000 frames for the entire family,” said Bauza, including a recently launched brand of eyewear exclusive to Walmart, called Hard Candy.



“The customer is changing, which is driving the changes in our business,” Bauza pointed out. “In the past, the optical business was viewed as a medical need. Today the optical business has become a fashion business with medical benefits.”



Behind the changes are younger generations of style-conscious consumers, Bauza noted. “Industry growth is coming primarily from millennial and Gen-X segments, as they view frames and sunglasses as a fashion accessory to enhance their image and complement their wardrobe,” Bauza explained. Nevertheless, she said, “We are currently working to diversify and expand our assortment to meet the needs of not only fashion-forward millennials but also the aging population.”



Indeed, says Bauza, growth in the vision category is also coming from contact lenses, which “are resurging as laser correction dissipates.”