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DULUTH, Ga.—As National Vision Inc. (NASDAQ:NVI) begins the gradual reopening of its locations this week, the company said that the process is beginning with certain locations inside Walmart and Vista locations and that subsequent openings will follow over the coming weeks for the group's America's Best and Eyeglass World stores, executives told VMAIL. As reported last Friday, NVI said it would begin to reopen certain locations on April 27, with “enhanced safety protocols and a focus on meeting the essential, urgent and emergency eye health needs of patients and customers.” The company said it had a goal for all stores within its family of retail brands to be open to the public by early June.

Reade Fahs, National Vision CEO, said, “Our patients and customers have important eyecare needs, and our network of optometrists are frontline providers of these critical services. This week, we are beginning to ‘unlock the doors’ to the public in a collection of our Walmart and Vista Optical stores. Over the course of the coming weeks, we plan to then gradually, safely reopen our America’s Best and Eyeglass World stores as well as the rest of our Walmart and Vista locations. The goal is to have all stores open to the public by early June.

"There are a great variety of considerations that go into deciding which stores open and when the primary driver of course being the safety of our associates, optometrists, patients and customers. The COVID-19 situation is ever-changing, and we continue to closely monitor the recommendations of public health and government agencies—including CDC and AOA—as well as federal and state restrictions. Additionally, every week, we have calls with our field leadership teams and area doctors to make sure we have real-time knowledge and understanding of the impact of COVID-19 in communities we serve across the country," Fahs said.

National Vision's approach to reopening will be phased and is based on a variety of factors (vs. specific numbers), a company spokesperson said, "driven primarily by the safety of associates, doctors, customer and patients. We want to make sure that we have enhanced safety procedures and protocols in place open as well as the appropriate PPE available."

Other factors include state/government restrictions, the state of the virus (e.g., if it’s a hot spot) and readiness of the market. The spokesperson noted that the phases of opening "are not specific to a particular geography (based on the criteria noted above). We will be opening our Walmart and other host locations (military and Fred Meyer) in the first wave followed by America’s Best and Eyeglass World over the course of the coming weeks."

All stores and doctors have an extensive manual of protocols based on CDC and AOA guidance that includes detailed instructions on such things as cleaning/disinfecting procedures, social distancing and PPE instructions. Examples include modifying the flow of patient/customer interaction to adhere to social distancing and cleaning protocols, and posting signage to inform patients/customers of these changes and others that they might experience while in store, the spokesperson added.

Clinical protocols (in line with AOA guidelines) for seeing/treating patients were developed by NVI's network of optometrists—focused on essential, urgent and emergency care (delaying routine/non-urgent care for now).

Stores will open to the public without prior appointments, however, NVI will have strict screening protocols in place for every patient or customer that visits a store or schedules an appointment. Everyone—in store and on the phone/online—will be asked a series of screening questions consistent with CDC and AOA guidelines prior to being seen for an exam. NVI is also implementing temperature checks for everyone, enforcing social distancing practices and reducing the number of available appointments to allow for proper cleaning between patients. If there are no appointments remaining available that day, patients will be asked to schedule for another day.

The company reiterated, " As we open in markets, we will apply any relevant learnings to subsequent phases and adjust as needed. As mentioned above, the markets/stores we are opening in each phase are based on a variety of criteria; the primary one being the safety of everyone in our stores. At this time, we feel comfortable given our current knowledge base, but should anything shift, we would adjust and do what is best for the safety of all.

"As stores reopen to the public, we will be asking associates and doctors to return to work as needed based on patient/customer demand. If an associate or doctor is not comfortable returning to work, they will not be required to return.

"In order to comply with CDC’s recommended safety and social distancing guidelines, we are modifying several things in-store. We will be enforcing social distancing practices in-store, adding barriers in some places (e.g., reception areas), and taking temperature checks for everyone entering the store. We are also modifying the flow of customers trying on frames and disinfecting between customers. There will also be signs posted visibly letting the customer/patient know of these changes," the company said.