14 Crafting a Comeback The Nation’s Leading Retailers and ECP Groups Endure the Unprecedented, Rethink Priorities and Shape a New Vision of the Future MARGE AXELRAD / SENIOR VP, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR AND MARK TOSH / SENIOR EDITOR he year 2020 was remarkable, presenting an almost un- periods, and many still struggle with issues related to staffing and imagined range of challenges unheard of before COVID-19 in-office safety. Resiliency became the watchword. became part of the lexicon. The result has been a wave of To gain a better understanding of what happened and what lies Tchanges for everyone, whether at work or at home. ahead, as Vision Monday issues its signature Top U.S. Optical Retailers Like many businesses, the optical/eyecare sector was signifi- Report in such an exceptional year, we asked several of the Top 50’s cantly impacted by the long-running and continuing pandemic. optical retail executives about how they adapted to 2020’s upheaval Practices closed or operated with reduced hours over various time and what they see coming next. Here’s what they said. n cating the public on overall vision health and the value of In addition, a delay in eye exams and increased eye Russ Steinhorst comprehensive eye exams. strain has driven a surge in demand. We expect this to CEO With respect to staffing, our number one priority dur- continue as students prepare to return to school this fall.” Shopko Optical ing the pandemic was to take care of our teams who take care of our patients. We are fortunate to have a tenured “2020 was a year of unprec- loyal workforce, and worked to ensure teammates had Reade Fahs edented change. It required the resources needed to manage through both personal CEO our teams to be flexible and and work-related disruptions associated with COVID-19. National Vision Inc. agile. Our goal was to en- Because of this, we have had limited openings tied sure we could continue to safely serve patients with their to the pandemic. While we are certainly feeling the pres- “National Vision has always exam and eyewear needs. To do so, we invested heavily sure of a tighter available workforce when opening new seen itself as a health care in PPE and cleaning solutions, staggered appointments, locations, our current employees continue to be our best business—and during the promoted usage of our contact lens website, and offered recruiting advocates. pandemic, we became even free shipping on all orders. For us, the patient experience continues to be focused more focused on the well-be- We also added teleoptometry solutions in many stores on long-term vision health by providing a comprehensive ing of every customer, patient, associate, and doctor we to meet the demand coming out of the pandemic as a eye exam and having a knowledgeable optician team work with. We enhanced cleaning and safety protocols, of supplement to our in-house optometrists. The pandemic who can help our patients select the best options for vi- course, but we also deepened our focus on taking care of further solidified the value of great relationships between sion correction. By doing this, we establish and maintain the well-being of our National Vision team. doctors, opticians and patients. the long-term relationships patients appreciate in their Despite various moments of uncertainty at the begin- As an industry, we need to continue focusing on edu- health care providers. Continued on page 16 For a look at prior years’ reports, go to the VM Reports JUNE 2021 category on VisionMonday.com. 16 Continued from page 14 with some of the recent CDC communication regarding ward to a true health care position. Additionally, we must ning of the pandemic, we continued to look toward a vaccinated persons we have begun to relax the mask focus on increasing and raising consumer awareness on stronger future—investing in technology advancements, mandate at our corporate office, lab and in our locations the importance of comprehensive eyecare as it relates to store updates and improvements, and opening lots of for customers/patients (not staff and not patients while in their overall health. new stores. the exam lane). This is a policy that will undergo constant Going forward and given the fact that many patients Since reopening, the demand for our convenient, review and be based on the science and data. postponed necessary routine eyecare, it is a priority for value-based offerings has been pretty phenomenal. We Still, staffing is a major issue and until the additional us to provide ample opportunities for patients to re-en- believe that COVID-19 hastened trends that the industry funding for unemployment is relieved it will continue to gage with us. This includes adding additional availability has been seeing for the past several years—the growth of be so. There have been times when a dozen candidates so our patients can see their doctors in a timely, conve- chains, omnichannel purchasing, and more focus on value have expressed interest in a job, two will show for an nient, and safe manner. and convenience. We are seeing more people getting eye interview and one will accept only not to show on the Patients are prioritizing their vision and looking for exams and, of course, continued growth in products like first day of work. Retaining our great talent that has been solutions to meet their needs in a post-COVID environ- blue light lenses. with us for years and expressing our gratitude for their ment. This includes accelerated demand for tools that We at National Vision, along with most of the optical service is paramount to our organization. help them conveniently engage outside of the four walls community, remain focused on emerging gradually and On the patient side, there has been a tremendous of an optical practice.” safely from the extreme COVID-19 concern, and we con- amount of online traffic to our website and more and tinue to follow CDC guidelines in our stores. Beyond this, more customers/patients use the online appointment we are doing our part to help America’s students return portal. In addition, our communication in email and tex- Jamie Rosin to in-person schooling, looking and seeing their best.” ting has ramped up drastically. Co-President This past year has been amazing in terms of demand. Rosin Eyecare I think that working from home and school from home Darren Horndasch have contributed to the demand with digital fatigue and “Among the key adaptations President and CEO having time to address personal needs. The concern is to the pandemic, we changed Wisconsin Vision moving forward and when does that demand begin to our hours of operations, uti- cease. Managed care benefits have certainly assisted in lized telemedicine particularly “Among the changes we the drive, but if we are faced with inflation in the near early on in the pandemic, de- made, first was the sanita- future, will the demand slow? signed new safety protocols and explored several VTO tion and disinfecting proce- Another key point that is important is that the cost of programs. In the mid-term, we are curious to see how dures that were put into play doing business has risen. Materials cost more and labor lasting the online transaction preference will be as [things during the pandemic, includ- costs more. On the labor side, although a new minimum return to a more normal environment]. ing surfaces, equipment and frames, [along with] masks wage law has not passed at this time, it happened or- Our key priorities now are to ramp back up our staff- for team members and patients. I now see most of this to ganically with the additional government stimulus. We ing levels for sure. Yes, we have seen staffing issues in be in place going forward. The year before the pandemic, now hire team members, with no experience, at a greater our business. we were struggling with staff calling in due to cold and cost than in the past just to compete.” Among patient changes, it seems that shopping pat- flu. With these new procedures/policies, I think we are terns so far have changed. Weekends and evenings, able to manage these matters better. which used to be high demand, now are much lower in Second, is simply the issue of staffing. Unemployment Sue Downes terms of patient demand. Yes, there is pent-up demand is low and yet our ability to hire is at an all-time struggle CEO and meeting this demand with current staffing problems and we have found ourselves in the position to attract tal- MyEyeDr. is a challenge to a large degree.” ent with far less experience than in the past. As a result, we now have a full-time position dedicated to creating “In terms of adapting, we and executing training tracks. These are as basic as our took a closer look at op- John Bonizio inventory portfolio, optics 101, how to best recommend portunities to enhance our Owner and Chief Operating Officer products and services, and similar things. omnichannel experience by Metro Optics Going forward, our belief is that telehealth is a key better connecting in-office priority. This is an area that we are looking to launch in and online components of the patient journey. We be- “The pandemic presented many challenges, and these the very near future. gan by overhauling our online appointment scheduler to led to opportunities. We were forced to adapt to new We continue to monitor the mask mandates in states create a smoother experience for both our patients and social and physical protocols and a unique way of main- and communities where we operate.