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FIVE Questions For…

Recently, the board of directors of Eye Care Centers of America, Inc. (ECCA), a wholly owned subsidiary of HVHC, Inc., appointed Jim Eisen president of ECCA. Eisen joined ECCA, a San Antonio, Texas-based retail chain in June 2008 and became chief operating officer that October.

Here, he speaks with the editors of Eyecare Business about his plans and expectations for the future.

EB Looking forward, what do you see for ECCA and the overall optical marketplace?

JE We believe it's going to continue to be a challenging environment. We are positioned well to continue to super-serve our customers by delivering high-quality, value solutions for their eyewear needs.

EB Is the pattern for managed care consumption shifting as people use their benefits while their job situations are stable?

JE We did see a higher utilization in Q1. Our managed care business continued to be strong throughout 2009.

EB Have you revamped your frame price points? Will you?

JE Our core strategy remains unchanged. Our position as a leader in the value arena will continue. The customer has shown that they want high-quality, value solutions.

We will continue to allow them to seek their desired level by having over 3,000 frames to choose from in most stores.

EB What directions are you taking in lenses? What's on the horizon in terms of supply?

JE Customers/patients are continuing to want premium lenses, i.e., polarized, Transitions, and non-glare (anti-reflective coating).

We have a centralized manufacturing strategy to handle these needs, as well as an in-store lab capability to process about 75 percent of our lenses within an hour. This will continue.

EB Some chains are condensing for efficiency and cutting back on the numbers of stores in their operations. What is ECCA doing?

JE We had opened 20 new stores by year end in 2009. We will continue with our store growth strategy by opening another 20 stores in 2010. We review the profitability of our portfolio on a regular basis. EB