American prescription eyewear retailer LensCrafters has opened at West Vancouver’s Park Royal Shopping Centre. Retail Insider previously reported on the construction signage in anticipation of the opening in October 2021.
Lenscrafters is now the third prescription eyewear retailer to operate in the mall after Bailey Nelson opened in 2019 in addition to B.C.-based Image Optometry which also has locations across the lower mainland, Vancouver Island and the interior of the province.
The Park Royal location is the tenth store in the Lower Mainland for LensCrafters with other locations in North Vancouver, Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, and White Rock.
LensCrafters was founded in 1983 and sold to the United States Shoe Corporation (U.S. Shoe) in 1984. Its current parent company, Luxottica, initiated a hostile takeover of U.S. Shoes in 1995 in an attempt of acquiring LensCrafters which resulted in a $1.4 billion agreement being inked.
LensCrafters eclipsed its closest rival, Pearle Vision, in growth by 1992 and Luxottica purchased the retailer in 2004 resulting in the combination of America’s two largest eyewear retailers.
