EssilorLuxottica Reaffirms Commitment to Major U.S. Retailer with License Renewal

EssilorLuxottica announced Wednesday the renewal of its licensing agreement with Target Corporation.

The multi-year agreement will see the global optical industry leader continue to operate and manage Target Optical outlets within Target stores for years to come.

The National Retail Federation ranks Target as the seventh largest retailer in the U.S. The Minneapolis, MN-based retailer has 1,948 locations across the country, 566 of which include Target Optical outlets.

In a press release announcing the agreement, EssilorLuxottica referred to Target Optical as “one of the leading omnichannel optical retailers in the U.S.” Target Optical reportedly attends to the eyecare needs of “more that 1.5 million Target guests each year.”

EssilorLuxottica has had a licensing agreement with Target Optical since 2004.

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A Brief Behind-the-Eyewear History

EssilorLuxottica was created in 2018 with the merger of French lens maker Essilor and Italian eyewear company Luxottica Group.

In a 2021 sales ranking of the top optical retailers in the U.S., Vision Source, which was acquired by Essilor in 2015, and Luxottica Retail, which includes LensCrafters, Pearle Vision and Target Optical, among other brands, placed first and second, respectively. (See graph below)

Previously, Pearle Vision and Target Optical were part of the Cole National Corporation (CNC). Luxottica already owned LensCrafters when its nearly $500 million offer to purchase CNC went through in 2004.

Target Optical, LensCrafters and Pearle Vision all are headquartered in Mason, OH, a suburb of Cincinnati. However, EssilorLuxottica announced in 2021 it was moving a number of corporate positions to offices in New York City and Dallas, TX.

Other major brands under the EssilorLuxottica umbrella include: Sunglass Hut, Oliver Peoples, Oakley, Ray-Ban and Persol.