By dba Staff
Tuesday, January 20, 2015 2:00 PM
NEW YORK—Nearly a quarter (23.2 percent) of the 332 respondents who participated in
Jobson Research's 2014 ECP Internet Usage Study and have a social media presence for their optical practice said that their practices posted content on a social media site a few times a week in 2014, an increase of about two percent when compared with those who said they posted a few times a week in 2013.
By dba Staff
Tuesday, January 6, 2015 2:05 PM
As we begin the new year,
dba asked a group of leading regional optical retailers what they have established as their priorities for 2015. Below are the answers to the following question from groups operating in various areas throughout North America.
By dba Staff
Monday, November 24, 2014 9:30 AM
ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The value of optical retail sales in all categories of vision care products and services (except refractive surgery) were up for the twelve month period ending September 2014, when compared with the twelve month period ending September 2013, according to The Vision Council’s latest VisionWatch report.
By dba Staff
Wednesday, October 8, 2014 12:15 AM
ALEXANDRIA, Va.—About 3.7 million more pairs of lenses were sold in the U.S. during the 12-month period ending June 2014 than were sold during the 12-month period ending June 2008, before the recession set in and slowed sales throughout the entire optical industry, according to the most recent statistics released by VisionWatch, the large scale continuous research study conducted by The Vision Council. That’s an increase of about 5 percent.
By dba Staff
Wednesday, October 8, 2014 12:05 AM
How do optical retailing leaders handle patients returning with scratched lenses? Do they charge extra for a warranty up front, build it into the purchase price or simply remake lenses for free and consider it good customer service?
By dba Staff
Wednesday, April 2, 2014 8:09 AM
It's been a controversy for some time now, but online optical retailing has slowly and steadily become a small but growing part of this business.
By dba Staff
Wednesday, April 2, 2014 8:03 AM
NEW YORK—Comparing pre-Great Recession eyewear and eyecare trends with those from last year shows that the U.S. vision care industry is back on the upswing.
By dba Staff
Wednesday, March 12, 2014 9:09 AM
The economy's continued sluggishness has not kept these savvy regional retailers from strategically adding locations they've purchased outright or built anew from the ground up. This month, the following multiple-location optical operations describe their recent and planned expansions along with the factors influencing their reasons for growing in the current marketplace.
By dba Staff
Wednesday, February 5, 2014 8:10 AM
An educated and certified staff can ultimately improve your bottom line. To follow up on last month's
dba article about investing in
paraoptometric certification, this month the following optical retailers explain their reasons for choosing how they educate staff and how they handle paying to certify them: Mark Johnson, director of optical services,
Virginia Eye Institute; Alan Ulsifer, OD, CEO and president,
FYidoctors; Jonathan Rosin, MD, co-president,
Rosin Eyecare and Comprehensive Eyecare Physicians, P.C.; and David H. Hettler, OD,
Drs. May & Hettler.
By dba Staff
Wednesday, February 5, 2014 8:03 AM
The total U.S. optical retail market grew by 3.7 percent for the 12-month period ending December 2013, when compared with the same period in 2012, according to The Vision Council’s most recent VisionWatch report.
By dba Staff
Wednesday, December 4, 2013 7:12 AM
After practicing 36 years as an optometrist, Mark Rinkov, OD, of
Rinkov Eyecare Centers has become growth oriented. He made his first acquisition with the purchase of Rosenthal Vision Center's two offices in September.
By dba Staff
Wednesday, December 4, 2013 7:09 AM
Starting this year, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Services modified the
"use-or-lose" rule related to health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs). Now, plan participants are permitted to carry over $500 of their unused health FSA balances into the following year. An estimated 14 million families participate in health FSAs.
By dba Staff
Wednesday, December 4, 2013 7:00 AM
ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The average retail price for eyeglass frames was $127.56 for the six months ending September 2013, according to the most recent statistics available from
The Vision Council's VisionWatch report. This represents a 2.3 percent increase when compared with the same period last year and a 2.8 percent increase over the same period in 2011. The graph shows the changes in the average retail price for eyeglass frames from September 2011 to September 2013.
By dba Staff
Wednesday, October 2, 2013 1:12 AM
Total retail prescription lens prices were up 4.6 percent during the 12-month period from July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2013, when compared to the same period a year prior, according to The Vision Council's latest VisionWatch statistics. That represents an increase of $6.18 per pair. Lens prices have been increasing for about 3.5 years now, with prices climbing sharply over the past six quarters, according to the report. In addition, total Rx lens prices during the June 2013 period were higher than they were before the recession started, up by 7 percent when compared with prices from the 12-month period ending June 30, 2008.