Vision Express is a British company established in 1988 that sells
spectacles
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples or ...
and
contact lenses
Contact lenses, or simply contacts, are thin lenses placed directly on the surface of the eyes. Contact lenses are ocular prosthetic devices used by over 150 million people worldwide, and they can be worn to correct vision or for cosmet ...
.
History
The company opened its first store in 1988, at the
MetroCentre,
Gateshead
Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary A ...
, quickly followed by several other stores. In October 1993 ''US Shoe Corp''
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line ...
sold the seven of its
LensCrafters
LensCrafters is an international retailer of prescription eyewear and prescription sunglasses. Its stores usually host independent optometrists on-site or in an adjacent store. The company has its corporate headquarters in Mason, Ohio, a subur ...
' superstores in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and No ...
to Vision Express. In 1995, the first store operating on a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
basis was opened.
The company had grown to over 220 stores across the United Kingdom by 2007. In May 2008 ''Batemans Opticians'' was acquired, which comprised a seventy-five store chain in
Southern England
Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes G ...
. The majority of these stores have since been rebranded as Vision Express.
There are currently 575 stores throughout the United Kingdom,
Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the la ...
and the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...
. Of these stores approx. 195 are fully company-owned,
with the remainder being under joint Venture partnerships.
Vision Express is also in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, where it has over 110 stores. It has recently opened a series of stores in
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
in partnership with Reliance.
On 1 May 2013, Vision Express announced that it had acquired twelve optical stores from Crown Eyeglass Ltd. The stores, situated in the
North West of England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,052,000 in 2011. It is the th ...
, will become part of the Vision Express portfolio, bringing its total number of outlets in the United Kingdom and Ireland to 331.
Eight of the properties currently trading as Crown Optical Centre and Direkt Optik will transfer optical services to nearby Vision Express premises and Vision Express will seek to retain the valued experience of the Crown Eyeglass Ltd personnel within the Vision Express store network. The remaining four stores will trade from their existing locations, with their existing teams under Vision Express branding.
On 1 February 2014, the high street retail business of Rayner & Keeler Opticians was bought by Vision Express from ''JBR1910 Limited''.
On 1 December 2014 Vision Express announced the acquisition of the business of Liverpool-based ''Conlons Opticians'' for an undisclosed fee. It was stated that ten of the nineteen stores purchased would continue to trade from their current locations, with the existing store teams as part of the Vision Express portfolio, with the remaining eight stores transferring services to their nearest Vision Express store.
The following day, it was announced that the store in Millom (which was due to be transferred to the nearby location of
Barrow-In-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 ...
), would remain open following a review from local residents, bringing the total number of Vision Express stores to 390 by the end of 2014.
Following a further announcement on 9 December 2014, Vision Express decided to continue to trade from the Conlons store in Annan as part of its portfolio. This increased the total number of stores to 391 by the end of 2014.
December 2017 saw Vision Express announce the completion of the deal to incorporate 209 Tesco Opticians into their portfolio. This increased the Vision Express store count (in the UK) to 600. By June 2018, all the Tesco Optician stores had been rebranded to VE@Tesco.
In late March 2020, Vision Express closed non-essential branches indefinitely in a nationwide response to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. Onur Köksal, (CEO) began to initiate the
furlough
A furlough (; from nl, verlof, "leave of absence") is a temporary leave of employees due to special needs of a company or employer, which may be due to economic conditions of a specific employer or in society as a whole. These furloughs may be s ...
of all non-essential staff. A small number of clinics are said to have remained open to offer essential, emergency clinical care.
From the end of 2020, to present times, the company began to resume routine testing in line with government guidance. Extra efforts followed to ensure that patients with critical care needs were prioritised over non-essential interactions. Patients were called before attending their appointments to confirm that they had not developed any symptoms of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...
and nor had anyone in their household.
Takeover by Grand Vision
Grand Vision acquired Vision Express in 1997. The French parent company ''Grand Vision'' has stores under various brands across Europe, and the rest of the world. Under franchise agreement there is a strong Vision Express brand present also in
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
n and
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n markets. These shops were acquired from GrandVision by Latvian entrepreneurs of "LU Optometrijas Centrs SIA". Currently "Vision Express" brand in Latvia and Lithuania is operated as a part of OC VISION group.
References
External links
Vision Express websiteVision Express IndiaVision Express PolandVision Express LithuaniaVision Express LatviaVision Express Philippines
{{Authority control
Eyewear companies of the United Kingdom
Retail companies of the United Kingdom
British companies established in 1988
Retail companies established in 1988
Eyewear retailers of the United Kingdom
Companies based in Nottinghamshire
1988 establishments in the United Kingdom
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