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NEW YORK—Following the substantial declines experienced over the Thanksgiving holiday, optical sales recovered last week (Nov. 30-Dec. 6), returning to the same level they were the week before Thanksgiving (Nov. 16-22), according to the Jobson COVID-19 Practice Performance Tracker. Most categories, including gross revenue, exams/refractions, frame units, and lens pairs, were either equal to or within 1 index point of where they were the week before Thanksgiving. Contact lenses, however, bounced back even stronger, achieving sales that were 7 index points higher last week when compared with the week before Thanksgiving.

The recovery following the Thanksgiving holiday varied across the four census regions. The rebound in the Midwest was the strongest, surpassing its sales levels prior to Thanksgiving by index points ranging from 2 to 8. Optical sales in the West were down 1 or 2 index points in all categories, when compared with the week before Thanksgiving. The South remained flat for the same period, except in gross revenue, which grew by 1 index point, and contact lenses, which increased by 6 index points.

The Northeast experienced the weakest recovery, ending last week (Nov. 30-Dec. 6) at a level 4 index points below where it stood the week prior (Nov. 16-22) to Thanksgiving for all service/product categories, except for the contact lens category which was up 3 index points.

The Jobson COVID-19 Practice Performance Tracker data is compiled by Jobson Research from GPN and ABB Analyze data. Another element of the report illustrates Consumer Sentiments about the COVID-19 response and purchasing intentions, with data supplied by The Vision Council. 

This index baseline was developed by Jobson Research from total sales from an average 7 days in the first quarter of 2019.

Click here to view the complete Jobson COVID-19 Performance Tracker