Pearle Vision Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Pearle Vision is an eyecare-retail franchise pairing an optical store with an on-site eye doctor, selling glasses, sunglasses, and contacts. Franchisees run an EyeCare Center managing dispensing, an optional finishing lab, and the doctor relationship.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Pearle Vision franchise requires a total initial investment of $789K – $1.2M, including a $30K franchise fee and an ongoing 7.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.4M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 1.5% charge-off rate across 103 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $789K – $1.2M
- 78th pct Healthcare
- Avg gross sales
- $1.4M
- Outlet subset21st pct Healthcare
- Royalty
- 7.0%
- 32nd pct Healthcare
- Units
- 484
- 78th pct Healthcare
- SBA charge-off
- 1.5%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Healthcare · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Healthcare avg · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $789K – $1.2M including a $30K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $1.4M/year (median $1.2M) (reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 78/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 1.5% across 103 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- LEGAL16 litigation matters disclosed in Item 3, higher than typical. Review the summary for patterns (franchisor-initiated vs. franchisee-initiated).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Luxottica of America Inc.
- Parent company
- EssilorLuxottica USA Inc.
- Ultimate parent
- Luxottica Group S.p.A. / EssilorLuxottica S.A.
- Predecessor
- Luxottica Retail North America Inc. (f/k/a); successor to Pearle Vision, Inc./Lux MASALA LLC/LensCrafters, Inc.
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- President - North America, Retail Licensed Brands & Pearle Vision
- Gunjan Kumar
- Incorporated in
- Ohio
- HQ
- 4000 Luxottica Place, Mason, Ohio 45040
- Auditor
- PricewaterhouseCoopers (inferred - not stated explicitly)
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $165.1M
- vs $151.6M prior year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Gunjan Kumar
- Headquarters
- Ohio
- Founded
- 1961
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 36
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 143% above the typical healthcare franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $30K | $30K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $67K | $139K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $691K | $1.1M |
| Total initial investment | $789K | $1.2M |
Source: Pearle Vision 2026 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $789K – $1.2M
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $67K – $139K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 7.0%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 8.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 0.1%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 7.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 8.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $400 |
| Transfer fee | $8K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Inventory (initial) | $33K – $70K |
| Total fee load | 0.1% of rev |
A 0.1% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales land near the healthcare norm.
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$144K
10.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
13%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
7.7 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Pearle Vision unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
13%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Pearle Vision units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$862K
on $4.3M purchase
Total debt
$3.4M
SBA $2.2M + senior + seller note
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
- Avg gross sales
- $1.4M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.2M
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- historical actual by cohort
- Sample size
- 169 outlets
- vs category median 20 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $232K→$5.9M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $618K→$2.6M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 10 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · above
Compared against 162 Healthcare brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $1.4M/year in gross sales. Median is $1.2M — top performers pull the average up, so a typical unit earns less. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.4x. Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 0.1% — below the Healthcare average of 8.8%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 10/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System contracting at -6.2% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven consolidation or franchisee exits.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Healthcare averages
How Pearle Vision Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 484
- Opened
- 1
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 3
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 12
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 3.5%
- Company-owned
- 60
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 88%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- -6.2%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- -6.2%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 1
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 3
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 12
- Transfers (3yr)
- 11
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 3
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 14 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 103
- Loan volume
- $49.3M
- Median loan
- $350K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 1.5%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 98.5%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 33.3%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 45
- Defaults
- 1
- Typical loan rate
- 6.7%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 12.0%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 807
- 1.6 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 12%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 58% went to startups / new businesses, 42% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in optical goods stores, franchised businesses charge off at 12.0% vs 15.9% for independents — franchising is associated with 25% lower SBA default risk in this category.
Vintage analysis
Pearle Vision charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing Pearle Vision franchisees
Showing 3 of 45 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Pearle Vision's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 13-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
With a 1.5% charge-off rate across 103 loans, banks have historically viewed this brand favorably for lending.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 1.5% — 91% below the 16.0% national norm, i.e. lower lender-observed risk.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Pearle Vision presents high investment risk due to declining unit economics, extensive litigation with antitrust/fraud allegations, unprotected territories, and inability to verify financial claims without Item 19 disclosure.
Litigation (Item 3)
Franchisor and affiliates are defendants in several consumer class actions (Meta/Ray-Ban smart-glasses privacy suits, LensCrafters/Sunglass Hut pricing and cookie-tracking suits, antitrust suits re: eyewear and 1-800 Contacts), a franchisee antitrust/breach-of-contract suit (Brave Optical), and other matters; franchisor was also plaintiff in a trademark/non-compete enforcement suit against former franchisees (Gray/Brave Optical) and a post-termination suit against a former franchisee (Safir). No bankruptcies disclosed. Historical litigation includes a 2002 California AG action against predecessor Cole National/Pearle Vision entities.
Largest disclosed settlement: $5,900,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · PricewaterhouseCoopers (inferred - not stated explicitly)
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 78 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-1.6% YoY) indicates contracting franchise system with 503 units
- 02HIGHMultiple serious litigation issues including antitrust, data breach, false advertising, and franchisee fraud allegations suggest systemic operational and compliance problems
- 03MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk and cannibalization between franchisees
- 04MINOR7% royalty on gross revenues (not net) means royalties paid even during unprofitable periods
- 05HIGHLitigation history includes fraud allegations against franchisor toward franchisees, indicating potential relationship deterioration
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 0.1% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | none |
| Protected territory | No |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 1 year |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 3 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 12 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 7 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Ohio (non-binding mediation; litigation in Southern District of Ohio) |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Ohio |
| Litigation count | 16 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Franchisor and affiliates are defendants in several consumer class actions (Meta/Ray-Ban smart-glasses privacy suits, LensCrafters/Sunglass Hut pricing and cookie-tracking suits, antitrust suits re: eyewear and 1-800 Contacts), a franchisee antitrust/breach-of-contract suit (Brave Optical), and other matters; franchisor was also plaintiff in a trademark/non-compete enforcement suit against former franchisees (Gray/Brave Optical) and a post-termination suit against a former franchisee (Safir). No bankruptcies disclosed. Historical litigation includes a 2002 California AG action against predecessor Cole National/Pearle Vision entities.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 24 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 56 hrs
- Training location
- EyeCare Center and/or Virtual
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 12 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- both
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- AcuityLogic (transitioning to VisionX in 2026)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: AcuityLogic (transitioning to VisionX in 2026)
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
25 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Pearle Vision · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Pearle Vision franchise?
The total investment to open a Pearle Vision franchise ranges from $789K – $1.2M, with an initial franchise fee of $30K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Pearle Vision franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Pearle Vision FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.4M. The median is $1.2M. Important context: Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Pearle Vision FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Pearle Vision FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Pearle Vision's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Pearle Vision has a charge-off rate of 1.5% across 103 loans, meaning 1.5% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Pearle Vision franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Pearle Vision has 484 total units in the United States, including 424 franchised units and 60 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Pearle Vision a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Pearle Vision as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 78 out of 100 (higher is better), based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.