By Colin Kellaher

National Vision Holdings plans to close 39 stores and slow its pace of new store openings in an effort by the eyewear retailer to improve the overall health of its core business.

National Vision, which in August said it was reviewing its fleet and had identified an initial list of less than 5% of stores that weren't meeting profitability thresholds, on Wednesday said it will close the stores by the end of fiscal 2026.

The Duluth, Ga., company, which expects to open 65 to 70 new stores during the current fiscal year, also said it will moderate new store openings to 30 to 35 in fiscal 2025, after which it expects to return to its more recent store-opening cadence.

National Vision, which currently operates more than 1,200 stores in 38 states and Puerto Rico, has said it sees an opportunity to have at least 2,500 stores, more than double its current store count.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 06, 2024 08:15 ET (13:15 GMT)

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