A quick look at VM’s annual Top 50 Optical Retailers listing in this issue shows that, once again, the big keep getting bigger--but this time, not all of them.

Cathy Ciccolella

Because of various factors--including industry consolidation, specific retailers’ financial problems and, probably, the generally sluggish U.S. economy during most of 2004--the estimated aggregate volume of the country’s 50 largest optical retail players dipped by a little more than $126 million last year versus 2003’s estimated total, to just under $6 billion.

And, interestingly, of the companies represented on both the Top 50 list in this issue and the one VM ran last May, 13 have lower sales for 2004 than for 2003, and another 13 had fewer locations as of Dec. 31, 2004, than at the end of the prior year.

(Of course, the full Top 50 listing for 2004 is not directly comparable to the list representing 2003’s top optical retailers, since the roster of high-volume companies making up VM’s annual Top 50 list changes slightly every year.)

Generally, however, the nation’s largest optical players are doing well. It’s particularly gratifying to see how some of the smaller regional chains are thriving in their geographic niches, slowly but steadily increasing their annual volumes and adding stores at a carefully measured pace.

Another industry segment making steady progress is the mass merchants and warehouse clubs with their own (or licensed) optical departments. Though many are relatively recent entrants into the eyewear/eyecare marketplace, their revenues in the category edge up a bit each year. In 2004, the top seven mass merchants saw their estimated aggregate optical volume advance by just over 4 percent--a better performance in terms of sales growth than the VM Top 50 taken as a whole.

Which companies’ 2005 sales will land them on the next Top 50 listing? Whose progress or problems this year will shift their positions up or down? We’ll be watching...stay tuned.