Vision Express is a leading High Street optician in the United Kingdom, selling glasses and contact lenses. The companies selling point is glasses in 1 hour. The company opened its first store in 1988 at the MetroCentre. After buying out LensCrafters' UK base, they further increased their number of stores. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Main Street. ... An optician is an individual who makes and adjusts optical aids. ... A pair of modern glasses Glasses, also called eyeglasses or spectacles, are frames, bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes normally for vision correction, eye protection, or for protection from UV rays. ... A pair of contact lenses, positioned with the concave side facing upward. ... MetroCentre is the largest shopping and leisure centre in the UK. It has been cited as the largest centre in Europe but the Cevahir Shopping centre in Turkey is now the largest in Europe Worlds 20 Largest shopping Centres. ... LensCrafters is North Americas largest retailer of prescription eyewear, as well as non-prescription sunglasses. ...

As of 2006 it has over 220 stores across the UK. These stores are divided into four types: Optical Lab, Superstores, Franchises (owned entirely by the proprietor but under licence to use the Vision Express name and with some access to Grand Vision services) and Joint Ventures (Premises owned entirely by proprietor, but set up cost subsidised by Vision Express). The stores are then firther divided by an ongoing refit program within the company, changing from the predominantly white fitments of the Optical Lab to the so called Zarna concept, which employs softer lighting with warm browns and oranges. The first two types of store which provide an hour service using both semi-finished lenses (prescription being cut from scratch) and stock lenses. The JV stores tend to provide an overnight service also with some exceptions.

Their headquarters are in Lenton, Nottingham.

Their parent company GrandVision has stores under various brands across Europe, and the rest of the world.

Its rivals in UK include Specsavers. Specsavers is a glasses and contact lenses retailer with over 750 stores in the United Kingdom, Spain, Republic of Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands. ...

Under franchise agreement there is a strong Vision Express brand presented also in Latvian and Lithuanian markets. These shops were acquired from GrandVision by Latvian entepreneurs of "LU Optometrijas Centrs SIA" [1].

External links

• Vision Express website
• A forum for optometry in the UK, including members from this company

This article about a retailer in the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Drawing of a self-service store. ...