Optical dispensary

Definition

The retail side of an optometry practice: the frames, lenses, and contacts beside the exam.

Why It Matters

This is where much of the margin lives, so the capture rate, meaning how many exam patients actually buy their eyewear here instead of online, drives value well beyond exam volume. Ask for it by month and look at the frame board while you are there. A dispensary carrying tired inventory in a practice with plenty of exams is the clearest upside in the trade, and it costs working capital, not a new patient.