Specsavers surpasses 100-store milestone in Canada

On a path of continued success, the eyecare and eyewear provider sets a new goal: to care for 1 million Canadians a year by 2025.

VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 7, 2024 /CNW/ - Specsavers, a leading eyecare and eyewear provider, has opened its 100^th store in Canada ? a significant achievement towards making quality eyecare and eyewear affordable and accessible to all Canadians. The Company's purpose, 'changing lives through better sight,' remains the driving force of their commitment to Canadians.

This milestone comes just after Specsavers celebrates its two-year anniversary in Canada, and a successful entry into Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, with stores slated to open in Manitoba in summer 2024. The Company recently achieved Great Place to Work^® certification, and its expansive network now includes more than 200 optometrists, 250 opticians and 1,000 eyecare consultants. Specsavers is the fastest growing network of eyecare professionals in Canada.¹

"Behind our success in Canada is a growing network of eyecare and retail professionals who provided 250,000 eye exams and 450,000 pairs of glasses to Canadians last year. These are exciting numbers as 20 per cent of our locations have been open for less than six months," said Bill Moir, Managing Director, Specsavers Canada. "As Specsavers surpasses its 100th store milestone, we intend to continue to show Canadians our unwavering commitment to eye health and community impact. Every day, our colleagues and partners are delivering clinical and retail excellence in local communities while creating a great culture that is inclusive and driven by purpose."

With more new stores slated to open in 2024, and eye exam bookings and trading at its current locations growing rapidly, the company has set a new goal: to care for 1 million Canadians a year by 2025.

Specsavers stores are locally co-owned by an Optometry Partner, who is a practicing optometrist, and a Retail Partner, who is an optician or an experienced retail professional. Clinics located within Specsavers are wholly owned and operated by the local Optometry Partner, who receives comprehensive clinical support allowing them to focus on patient care. All clinics within Specsavers locations are equipped with advanced clinical technology, such as Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), which is included in every standard eye exam to ensure comprehensive clinical care for patients. OCT is a 3D eye scan that generates an in-depth analysis of the back of the eye providing optometrists with additional information to more deeply understand patients' eye health.

The Company's award-winning marketing reaches millions of consumers to drive new patient bookings, customer traffic, patient recall and outside prescriptions. Since opening its doors in Canada two years ago, Specsavers has become one of the most recognized optical brands in Canada. In 2023, Specsavers brought its popular global ad campaign 'Should've Gone to Specsavers' as well as exciting collaborations with designers and personalities such as Alex Perry, Kylie Minogue and adidas to Canadian consumers. Initiatives to drive both brand and eye health awareness have driven impressive results for Specsavers locations, which are averaging more than $1.5 million in revenue during their first twelve months of business.

In addition to Specsavers' high-value customer promotions, established locations benefit from the patient recall program as well as a history of positive customer reviews and referrals. The first Specsavers in Canada, located on Vancouver Island, is forecast to care for over 15,000 patients and customers in 2024 and achieve over $4.5m in retail revenue, which is almost six times higher than before the location converted to a Specsavers location.

The Company has received interest from optometrists and opticians across Canada, and openings in Canadian provinces outside of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario may be considered in the future.

Optometrists and opticians across Canada who are interested in partnership opportunities with Specsavers can contact Specsavers directly (Contact us: join.specsavers.com/ca/partnership-enquiry/) or learn more about Specsavers by visiting our Company website (Inside Specsavers: join.specsavers.com/ca/partnership/).

Specsavers is an optometrist-owned and -led business that provides Canadians access to comprehensive eye exams at more than 100 independently-owned optometric practices located within Specsavers locations in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Manitoba locations are set to open in summer 2024. The comprehensive eye exams include an OCT 3D eye scan enabling early detection of sight-threatening eye diseases. Specsavers has a range of high-quality eyewear, including over 1,000 frames, lenses and contact lenses starting from $69 for a complete pair of single vision glasses.

Founded in the UK 40 years ago by optometrist husband and wife team, Doug and Mary Perkins, there are now more than 2,600 Specsavers healthcare businesses across 11 countries serving over 42 million patients and customers. Specsavers is driven by its purpose of "changing lives through better sight" and aims to transform the way Canadians experience eyecare by offering exceptional service, advanced clinical equipment and affordable and quality eyewear.

SOURCE Specsavers Canada