NEW YORK—It was a busy year in 2017 across the optical retailing business in the U.S. Many companies enjoyed modest organic growth as the U.S. economy continued to grow, the stock markets pushed upward and consumers and patients remained confident in their outlook for the future, a confluence of events that, in one way or another, played into a steady performance for optical retailing and eyecare overall last year. Against this backdrop, however, there were the implications of ongoing consolidation efforts and the growing influence of private equity groups that played out and which are reflected in VM’s annual Top 50 rankings. The PE investment groups have moved into the sector with the acquisition of independent and regional retail/practice groups, which reshaped the U.S. optical industry again in 2017. As a result, there is new positioning among the Top 10 players within 2018’s Top 50 ranking.

The 2018 VM Top 50 U.S. Optical Retailer’s Report, which is being issued today, exclusively assesses rankings based on VM estimates of 2017 calendar year sales. 

VM’s Top 50 Optical Retailers represented an estimated 38.6 percent of the total U.S. optical market’s retail revenues of $34.8 billion in 2017. The VM Top 10 U.S. Optical Retailers represented an estimated 33.2 percent of the total U.S. optical market’s retail revenues of $34.8 billion in 2017.

A look at the complete ranking of the 50 leading optical retailers in the U.S., Snapshots of the Top 10, a focused look at seven mass merchants and wholesale clubs’ optical business, along with other industry statistics is posted in the full report. The report appears within the digital and print May 14 editions of Vision Monday as well as on Vision Monday’s website today. PDFs of this year’s report along with prior year’s Top 50 reports are also on the site.