GLENDORA, N.J. and WESTBOROUGH, Mass.—BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BJ) will become an independent player in optical retail, effective Jan. 6, 2019. In an announcement coordinated with U.S. Vision, part of the Refac Optical Group, the companies said that U.S. Vision will continue to provide manufacturing and other services to BJ’s Optical while all BJ’s optical centers will become owned and operated by BJ’s Wholesale Club. Refac’s statement noted, “While we are currently in discussions to determine process details, we wanted to share this decision as soon as possible and confirm our commitment to supporting our BJ’s Optical associates and affiliated doctors and providing continued outstanding member service during this transition period.”

In June 2018, BJ’s Wholesale Club issued an IPO and became a public company. Soon after they went public, BJ’s reached out to U.S. Vision to discuss the company’s intentions concerning the optical division.

According to Adam Levy, CEO Refac Optical Group, “Our senior management teams have been meeting to figure out a way that both organizations could complement each other and look to maximize our business potential.”



Levy added, “BJ’s informed us that they will offer our U.S. Vision store associates the opportunity to continue employment in their current position in the BJ’s optical departments. We’re also pleased to confirm that BJ’s plans to continue the affiliation with our independent optometrists currently staffing the BJ’s Optical Departments.”

Kirk Saville, SVP corporate communications for BJ’s, told VMAIL, “We are transitioning away from our third-party vendor and will operate BJ’s Optical internally. We plan to offer employment to current BJ’s Optical club employees and look forward to providing outstanding service and value to our members.”

U.S. Vision currently operates 204 BJ’s optical department locations. They started working with BJ’s under a leased partnership arrangement in March 2008.

“As respected corporate partners, we will work together with BJ’s Wholesale Club to see that they are successful in this endeavor. BJ’s success is our success,” stated Levy.

With over 100 years in the optical industry, U.S. Vision said it will continue working with their current business model in the JCPenney’s, Meijer, Boscov’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Nationwide Vision brands as well as on several military bases and some Sears locations throughout the country. The U.S. Vision 80,000 square foot optical lab, with capacity to produce over 2 million complete pairs of eyeglasses annually, is located in Glendora N.J., outside of Philadelphia.

Refac Optical Group was ranked the 9th largest optical retailer in Vision Monday’s Top 50 Retailers Report last May, based on 2017 calendar sales estimates. Refac Optical Group is the parent company of U.S. Vision, headquartered in Glendora, N.J. and Nationwide Vision headquartered in Chandler, Ariz. The BJ’s Optical brand, managed by U.S. Vision, consistently ranks 6th in the U.S. among mass merchant clubs with optical departments. Over the past three years, U.S. Vision-operated BJ’s Optical Departments have consistently maintained over $80 million in retail sales.