PALM SPRINGS, Fla.—My Eyelab, a burgeoning optical retail franchise operator, has recently announced aggressive expansion plans for the state of Texas in 2019. The company late last month disclosed its intention in 2019 to open 28 new stores in the Dallas area, and open an additional 24 new stores in the Houston area in 2019. The company held job fairs in both Dallas and Houston over recent weekends to recruit new employees. My Eyelab said it wants to hire up to 280 new employees in the Dallas area and up to 240 new employees in the Houston area in 2019.

“As the Dallas market and economy continues to grow and flourish, we are thrilled to grow alongside it and continue investing in Dallas and the surrounding communities,” My Eyelab chief executive officer Daniel Stanton said in one of the recent announcements. “We understand there will always be a demand for high-quality eyecare, which is why we’re excited to expand our affordable eyecare offering throughout Texas.”

My Eyelab (primarily a franchise business) and Stanton Optical are both part of Vision Precision Holdings, which oversaw a total of 124 corporate and franchise locations as of late January, according to an announcement. The parent company ranked as the 13th largest optical retailer in the U.S. at the end of 2017, with about 85 locations, according to Vision Monday’s annual Top 50 Retailers report.

The My Eyelab format features what the company calls a “full-service teleconsulting” eyecare business model that incorporates a centrally located eyecare professional into the eye exam procedure. The telehealth exam includes traditional pretesting, automated visual field evaluation, anterior segment and automated retinal photos, and the digital refraction, Daniel Stanton told VMAIL in an earlier interview.

My Eyelab opened three franchise locations in the Dallas area in December, and added another location in nearby Fort Worth late last month, which brought the company’s store count to 26 in Texas at the time. The company opened a total of five locations in the Dallas area over the course of two months (December and January).

My Eyelab also expects to pursue growth in other markets, including Florida and North Carolina, as well as Texas markets such as Odessa, El Paso, Lubbock, Corpus Christi and San Antonio, according to an announcement, The company said it plans to strategically target nationwide developments through both single and multi-unit franchise agreements.