Optical Retailers

Emerging Vision retains the 10th position on VM's Top 50 Optical Retailers listing, with sales of $92.4 million last year. The company's triumvirate of co-chief operating officers--Sam Herskowitz, Myles Lewis, and Christopher Payan--kicked off an aggressive expansion of its Sterling Optical retail chain in California last year, building its presence in that market with new franchised stores. The trio also initiated a new 'model inventory' program for its franchisees during 2003, offering them a new selection of about 500 eyewear SKUs, representing roughly half a typical franchised store's mix; a select group of 'preferred vendor partners' provides increased merchandising support.

This year, Emerging Vision is launching a new expansion program that takes a different approach: Starting in San Diego, the chain will expand into additional markets via new area-representative agreements, using local developers who act as franchisees for the first store in a given market, then find other businesspeople to franchise additional locations there. Overall, Herskowitz, Lewis, and Payan are targeting 10 to 20 new locations for 2004.