National Vision Holdings, Inc. (EYE) Business

Item 1. Business

National Vision Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries are referred to here as “we,” “our,” “us,” “the Company,” or “National Vision.” National Vision Holdings, Inc. conducts substantially all of its activities through its indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary, National Vision, Inc. (“NVI”), and NVI’s subsidiaries.

We operate under one reportable segment, our Owned & Host segment, which includes our two owned brands, America’s Best Contacts and Eyeglasses (“America’s Best”) and Eyeglass World, as well as our Host brands, Vista Optical locations within select Fred Meyer stores and Vista Optical locations on select military bases. See Part II. Item 8. Note 15. “Segment Reporting” for more information.

Our Strategy & Transformation

We are one of the largest optical retailers in the United States (“U.S.”) and a leader in the value segment of the U.S. optical retail industry. We believe that vision is central to quality of life and that people deserve to see their best to live their best. Our mission is to help people by making quality eye care and eyewear more affordable and accessible. We achieve this by providing eye exams, eyeglasses and contact lenses to consumers across the nation. Our range of quality product offerings at multiple price points makes us an attractive destination for consumers of all income levels. As of January 3, 2026, our 2025 fiscal year end, we reach our customers through a diverse portfolio of 1,250 retail stores across four brands, our associated omni-channel consumer websites, and our dedicated e-commerce consumer website, DiscountContacts.com.

Historically, our business model primarily targeted lower-income consumers with a go-to-market strategy focused on merchandise and messaging of the lowest price. We evolved our operating model in light of the impact of Covid to address changing consumer and doctor preferences, including the introduction of cutting edge remote telehealth capabilities, which are now installed in over 800 of our locations. We believe this differentiator greatly improves our ability to provide consistent access to patient care across our network of stores. In fiscal 2024, we began implementing transformation initiatives designed to accelerate long-term growth and strengthen profitability, including new additions to our executive leadership team, continued expansion of exam capacity, and new traffic-driving initiatives.

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In 2025, we embarked on the next phase of our transformation, focused on the rapid modernization of our business in the context of contemporary consumer needs and wants. Our strategy is focused around creating a more joyful consumer experience with refreshed merchandising, updated marketing and brand assets, new in-store technologies to support the customer journey, and an updated pricing architecture, all of which allow us to better serve our existing customers and expand our target consumer demographics. During 2025, as an embodiment of our transformation, we refreshed the National Vision and America’s Best brand identities. We also introduced a new America’s Best brand promise, “Every Eye Deserves Better,” which better reflects our customer mix. These consumer-facing strategies are paired with an increased focus on cost optimization and operating margin expansion, all of which are intended to drive the outcome of a stronger core business and improved operating results.

Our strategic framework is based on data-driven insights and analytics to inform our initiatives. We believe that we have tremendous opportunity across four growth vectors where we are under-indexed versus the category:

•Target Customer Segments. Focus on expanding with customers such as those who use managed vision care, progressive wearers, and Outside Rx customers

•Target Product Categories. Enhancing our product offerings to meet customer demand in areas such as premium lens coatings, transitions, advanced materials, and more premium and luxury frames

•Enhanced Customer Experience. Creating joyful in‑store experiences, personalizing shopping journeys, elevating clinical care, seamless doctor-to-retail handoffs, and implementing digital enhancements

•New Store Growth. Expect to open approximately 30 to 35 new stores per year in near term, primarily comprised of America’s Best stores, while we invest in our strategic initiatives and expect to reaccelerate to approximately 60 per year beginning 2028, totaling approximately 240 new stores through 2030

Our Business

We reach customers through a portfolio of brands, which consists of our leading brand, America’s Best, along with our emerging brands, which include Eyeglass World and our Host brands. Across all of our brands we are modernizing our approach to enhance the customer and patient experience in ways we believe will increase customer retention and drive lifetime loyalty.

All of our brands leverage our highly efficient centralized laboratory network and distribution system, which helps us minimize production and distribution costs. As one of the largest purchasers of eyeglass frames, eyeglass lenses and contact lenses in the U.S., we also benefit from centralized procurement efforts and purchasing economies of scale.

During fiscal 2025, we opened 33 new stores, and we plan to open approximately 30 to 35 new stores in fiscal 2026, primarily comprised of America’s Best stores. Since 2006, we have opened over 1,100 stores in the aggregate, including 1,072 stores under our America’s Best and Eyeglass World retail brands. Our new store model generally targets a store size between 2,500 to 4,500 square feet and an average new store cash investment of approximately $0.4 million to $0.6 million, in furniture, fixtures, leaseholds and equipment for new stores, net of tenant incentives. Our new store model targets sales in the fifth year of operation in the range of $1.5 million to $1.7 million, with at least 55% of year five sales targeted in the first full year of operation. Our new store model targets vary for America’s Best and Eyeglass World stores to reflect differences by brand, markets and geography. The majority of our owned stores have achieved profitability during the second year of operation and have paid back invested capital in three to five years.

Our America’s Best Brand. The America’s Best brand promise, “Every Eye Deserves Better,” launched in 2025 and signifies our commitment to attainable and accessible high-quality eye care and delivering outstanding customer experiences for our customers and patients. America’s Best is committed to providing the best value in the markets in which it operates, starting with our customers and patients and determining personalized value based on their lifestyle needs. In our 1,057 America’s Best stores, vision care services are provided by optometrists employed either by us or by independent professional corporations or similar entities. By leveraging our efficient centralized laboratory network, America’s Best stores minimize processing costs and drive significant economies of scale. America’s Best stores are primarily located in high-traffic strip centers next to other value-focused retailers.

Our Eyeglass World Brand. Historically, this brand has been positioned as an eyeglass superstore with a broad selection of designer brands and price points and offers a highly personalized level of service. In our 122 Eyeglass World locations offer eye exams provided by optometrists employed either by us or by independent professional corporations or similar entities, and have on-site laboratories that enable stores to quickly fulfill certain customer orders and make repairs on site. Lens orders that are not completed in store are completed by our centralized laboratory network. These stores are primarily located in freestanding or in-line locations near high-foot-traffic shopping centers.

Throughout fiscal 2025, we focused on strengthening Eyeglass World’s operational foundation, implementing new sales training and enhanced operations to improve the customer and patient experience. In the second half of fiscal 2025, we

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initiated a brand positioning review of Eyeglass World as part of its transformation and expect to refresh the brand later in fiscal 2026.

Our Host Brands. We have two Host brands consisting of 53 Vista Optical locations on military bases and 18 Vista Optical locations within select Fred Meyer stores as of January 3, 2026. These brands combine a broad selection of products and attentive customer service with the convenience of one-stop shopping. These brands also utilize our centralized laboratories and provide eye exams principally by independent optometrists in nearly all locations.

Our Omni-Channel and E-Commerce Platforms. We offer our customers an engaging digital shopping experience through an established platform of omni-channel store websites, and our dedicated e-commerce consumer website, DiscountContacts.com. Our omni-channel store websites augment our America’s Best, Eyeglass World and Vista Optical in military brands and provide a customer experience that extends across our in-store, mobile and e-commerce channels. We offer a range of services to customers, including eyeglass purchasing, online scheduling and appointment reminders, contact lens purchasing, “buy-in-store and ship-to-home” capabilities and online frame browsing, among others. Our omni-channel offerings work in concert with these brands to enhance the overall quality of the customer experience. In fiscal 2026, we expect to move our e-commerce consumer websites to a new platform integrated with our new Customer Relationship Management (“CRM”) system to enable a more modern and seamless customer experience.

In the aggregate, sales from our omni-channel and e-commerce platforms, which include “buy-in-store and ship-to-home” transactions, represented approximately 7% of net revenue in each of fiscal year 2025 and 2024.

Our Industry and Competition

We operate in the highly fragmented and growing U.S. optical retail industry, which is defined by The Vision Council to include the sale of exams, frames, lenses, contact lenses, plano sunglasses and readers. According to The Vision Council, the size of the U.S. optical retail industry is estimated to be $69.5 billion in 2025. We believe the industry’s continued growth and its resilience to economic cycles is due in large part to the medical, non-discretionary and recurring nature of eye care purchases.

The majority of eyewear purchases are driven by need, with two primary drivers of demand: (i) diminishing eyesight with increasing age, causing new customers to buy corrective eyewear, and (ii) a steady and consistent replacement cycle as customers replace or purchase new eyewear for a variety of reasons, including changes in prescriptions, fashion trends and necessity (e.g., lost or broken eyewear).

The need for eyesight correction is diagnosed through eye tests and eye exams.

We anticipate that there are several key secular growth trends that will continue to contribute to the stability and growth of the U.S. optical retail industry:

•Aging Population. According to The Vision Council, approximately 80% of adults in the U.S. use some form of vision correction, and there is a significant increase in the use of vision correction above age 45, with further increases above age 55. Given that eyesight deteriorates progressively with age, aging of the U.S. population should result in incremental sales of eyecare and eye exams, and eyewear and related accessories.

•Managed Vision Care Adoption. According to The Vision Council, approximately 70% of consumers reported having some sort of vision care coverage in 2025. With our national scale and evolving product assortment, we believe we are well-positions to allow these customers to maximize the value of their benefit.

•Increased Usage of Computer and Mobile Screens. The U.S. population has experienced a dramatic increase in the amount of time spent viewing electronic screens, and according to the most recent data reported by The Vision Council in 2022, about 90% of American adults reported using digital devices for more than three hours per day with approximately 80% reporting experiencing symptoms of digital eye strain. This is anticipated to result in an increase of vision correction needs.

•Consistent Replacement Cycle. According to the most recent data reported by The Vision Council in 2025, glasses wearers purchase new glasses approximately every two years. Approximately 80% of contacts wearers purchase contact lenses at least once per year. An estimated 51 million people in the United States wear contact lenses that are typically disposable, replaced on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, driving frequent repurchase.

•Growing Focus on Health and Wellness. The optical retail industry is poised to continue to benefit from an increasing societal focus on health and wellness. Consumers want personalized solutions that allow them to make informed decisions about their health. Additionally, rising healthcare costs are driving a growing emphasis on preventative healthcare. Eye exams can detect a host of physical ailments, such as hypertension or diabetes, and are one of the most inexpensive and effective forms of detection for many of these conditions.

•Momentum in Smart Eyewear. The optical industry is experiencing increased consumer interest in smart eyewear, an emerging category that can integrate vision correction with features such as AI-enablement, hands-

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free communication, and seamless integration with smartphones. By appealing to tech‑savvy consumers, smart eyewear can draw new customers into optical retail while also increasing the average ticket size, as these products typically command higher prices than traditional frames and lenses.

The optical retail industry is highly competitive. Competition is generally based upon brand name recognition, price, convenience, selection, service and product quality.

We operate within the value segment of the U.S. optical retail industry, which emphasizes price and affordability. We compete with independent optical retailers who comprise nearly half of the industry, mass merchants and warehouse club stores, specialty retail chains, and independent eye care practitioners and opticians. In the broader optical retail industry, we also compete with large national retailers, both in physical retail locations and online.

We also compete with online sellers of contact lenses and eyewear. The online sale of contact lenses has steadily increased in particular since the passage of the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act. See “Government Regulation” below for more detail. We expect to continue to face competition in the future as companies increasingly employ emerging technologies in the optical retail industry, including, for example, online vision exams.

In our managed care business, we also compete with other managed care payors, several of which are vertically integrated, with substantial retail networks. As a provider under managed care contracts, we may have access to new customers while better serving our existing customers who are covered by managed care by filing claims directly with the payor and collecting only the applicable co-pay amount from these customers. Competition in our managed care business is based on many factors, including price and the density of the provider network. We have, in the past, and may, in the future, experience heightened challenges to be admitted as a provider to these networks or to maintain our status in them.

Our Products and Services

Within our store brands, we primarily offer two products and one service: eyeglasses, contact lenses and eye exams.

Our diverse frame product portfolio encompasses many brand names and thousands of stock keeping units (“SKUs”). Our stores typically stock well-known frame brands, secondary frame brands, direct import and private label frames. Offerings include both brand name designers, like Ray-Ban, Coach and Calvin Klein, and private label options at attractive prices for value-seeking consumers across income demographics. Our brand-name frame offerings are manufactured by market leaders and we partner with several overseas factories to direct source our private label products. During fiscal 2025, we began to enhance our product offering in areas where we are underdeveloped relative to the optical retail category. We added frames at higher price points and enhanced our portfolio offering with premium products to meet consumer demand while remaining the destination for value. We also introduced innovative products such as Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

We also offer a broad portfolio of lenses, including single vision, bifocal, and progressive lenses, with a variety of treatments to enhance vision. We have opportunities to evolve our lens mix by increasing our focus on products and technologies such as advanced‑material lenses, premium lens options, specialized coatings, or photochromic lenses (e.g., Transitions). While we offer these solutions today, we remain underpenetrated relative to the category, and elevating our execution and customer education can unlock meaningful growth. Our sales associates play a key role in educating customers about higher‑quality, thinner, and other value‑added lens options that carry higher margins through one-on-one consultative-selling. As a result, a significant number of America’s Best customers and Eyeglass World customers who purchase eyeglasses choose upgraded lenses and/or frames.

In our America’s Best and Eyeglass World stores, we also offer contact lenses from all major contact lens manufacturers, including our own private label brands (Sofmed and Natural Eyes HydraWear, made by CooperVision), along with a variety of eyewear accessories.

Collectively, our broad product offerings deliver consistent financial results and reduce our reliance on any individual product, style or trend.

Eye exam services are provided by optometrists employed by us, or by professional corporations or similar entities owned by eye care practitioners with whom we have contractual arrangements or by independent optometrists who sublease in our store locations. In addition, as part of our efforts to provide quality, accessible eye care, we have deployed a telehealth solution in certain locations that allows optometrists working remotely to provide eye exam services to patients. Through this remote medicine platform, patients still visit our stores for eye care services, but instead of seeing the optometrists in person, the patients are connected with optometrists licensed in their state through video conferencing technology. The optometrists work with trained optometric technicians to collect preliminary data, and then the optometrists control the optometric equipment remotely to conduct the refractions and eye health examinations while communicating with the patients in real time via 2-way synchronous audio and visual connection. As of January 3, 2026, this technology has been enabled in over 800 of our America’s Best locations. We believe remote medicine not only helps provide quality, accessible eye care to more patients, but also helps address constraints in exam capacity from optometrist availability in store. As part of the rollout, we have also invested in the transition to an electronic health record (“EHR”) platform in nearly all America’s Best locations.

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The disposable nature of contact lenses means that customers must replenish their contacts frequently and, in order to refill their prescriptions, contact lens users must have a current prescription. For a prescription to be current, customers generally need to have an eye exam every one or two years, depending on the state in which they reside. America’s Best offers its Eyecare Club programs primarily to its contact lens customers. As of January 3, 2026, the Eyecare Club had approximately 1.3 million active members. Eyecare Club members receive two eye exams per year and 10% off all contact lenses and eyeglasses for the duration of the three-year membership, as well as other periodic benefits and discounts, for a one-time fixed payment. The multi­year nature of these memberships, which customers pay in full at the time they join, facilitates repeat traffic to America’s Best stores for exams and contact lens purchases and builds customer loyalty.

See Note 8. “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” in our audited consolidated financial statements included in Part II. Item 8. of this Form 10-K for additional information.

Our Customers

Increasingly, we are using consumer insights and data to drive our strategy and deliver an expanded view of our customer. Historically, we have primarily targeted price-driven consumers, but data shows our customer base leans toward middle income and mirrors broad U.S. demographics. Our customers are pragmatic buyers, who appreciate value regardless of their income level; style leaders, who want more premium products and may have their own prescription in hand; and wellness shoppers with vision benefits, who are looking for great clinical experiences or may have more advanced eye care needs. As we evolve to better attract and serve these customers who are already shopping with us, we believe we have significant runway for growth.

We are keenly focused on expanding our penetration within three key, high-value customer segments:

•Managed Care. Managed Care customers use vision insurance benefits provided through a managed care plan to pay for their eye exam or eyewear purchase. Our managed care business relates to vision care programs and associated benefits provided by stand-alone vision insurance entities, healthcare plans and government programs. National Vision participates as a provider of both vision care and related vision product solutions, including eyeglasses and contact lenses, and primarily participates in private managed care programs.

While our managed care business has continued to grow, we are underpenetrated in the managed care market relative to the broader optical retail industry. In 2025, our managed care business represented 42% of our revenues from continuing operations. We believe we have a clear path to bring the percentage of revenues from managed care payors to 50%. According to The Vision Council, approximately 70% of consumers reported having some sort of vision care coverage in 2025. With our national scale and evolving product assortment, we believe we are well-positioned to win with this growing customer segment by allowing them to maximize the value of their vision insurance benefits.

•Outside Rx. Outside Rx customers already have a prescription from another provider and come to one of our retail locations or omni-channel web sites to purchase eyeglasses or contact lenses. We believe that we are well positioned to win with Outside Rx customers, including by tailoring marketing messaging to better reach these consumers and evolving adjusting selling techniques and product mix to better serve them in the store.

•Progressive Wearers. Progressive Wearers are customers who rely on progressive, “no‑line” bifocal lenses, and represent a high‑value segment due to their need for more advanced, premium lens solutions.

Our Sales and Marketing

We developed our marketing and sales strategy based on the knowledge we have of our customers. Our brands are positioned to stand for great value and great service, both of which resonate with our target consumers and leave a lasting impression that is distinct from the competition.

During fiscal 2025, we began a transformation of our sales strategy, which starts with our customers and patients and determines personalized value based on their lifestyle needs. To accomplish this, we are investing in sales associate training to transform the selling approach from a more transactional approach focused on price to a more consultative approach designed to provide the best value. We also continue to invest in digital tools, using technology to complement the selling experience wherever possible, to personalize the customer experience and showcase products and features.

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In fiscal 2025, we launched a new customer experience platform to centrally manage all customer data, communications and analytics, which replaced our previous CRM system. Our CRM system is used to collect customer demographic data. With this information and the third-party data that we use to supplement the customer information, we enhance our customer relationships with communications based on their individual vision needs and interests to help improve existing customer retention. We believe our new CRM system will allow us to build dynamic, omnichannel customer journeys based on individual behaviors and preferences in order to maximize customer engagement and increase customer retention through personalized experiences across our brands. In fiscal 2026, we expect to move our e-commerce consumer websites to a new platform integrated with our new CRM system to enable a more modern and seamless customer experience. We believe these investments, along with maintenance of our existing information technology capabilities, will provide the flexibility and capacity to accommodate our future growth plans.

In addition to our CRM system, digital advertising is a critical component of our media mix, as we believe both of these programs generate a high rate of return. Potential customers gain awareness of our brands through paid and organic digital efforts via content, video and social media that lead them to our websites.

We believe that video is a key channel for connecting with our customers. A significant portion of America’s Best and Eyeglass World’s advertising investments are on awareness-driving video advertisements, network television and digital platforms, which we leverage broadly across multiple stores in each market to gain a larger share of voice and, in turn, drive traffic and margins. We continue to benefit from America’s Best national advertising campaigns, which we believe are cost effective and help raise our brand awareness in both new and existing markets. Additional advertising investments include digital media, search engine, direct mail, email and local store marketing. We are continually tracking consumer media consumption behaviors and adjusting our media plan accordingly.

For our Host brands, we rely on our Host partners’ marketing initiatives to drive traffic into their stores. We then develop and execute highly targeted local marketing campaigns within stores to create awareness of our service and product offerings.

Seasonality

Our business is moderately seasonal in nature. Historically, our business has realized a higher portion of net revenue, operating income and cash flows from operations in the first half of the year, and a lower portion of net revenue, operating income and cash flows from operations in the fourth fiscal quarter. The first half seasonality is attributable primarily to annual health insurance program start/reset periods and predictable consumer propensity to seek eye care and eyewear.

With respect to our fourth quarter results, compared to other retailers, our products and services are less likely to be included in consumers’ holiday spending budgets, therefore reducing spending on personal vision correction during the weeks preceding December 25th of each year. Additionally, although the period between December 25th and the end of our fiscal year is typically a high-volume period, the net revenue associated with substantially all orders of prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses during that period is deferred until January based on generally accepted accounting principles of recognizing revenue only after the product has been accepted by the customer, further contributing to higher revenue results in the first half of the year. Our quarterly results may also be affected by the timing of new store openings and store closings, the amount of sales contributed by new and existing stores, the timing of certain holidays, and the timing of weather-related store closures. Furthermore, changes in consumer behavior in recent years have suggested a departure from the seasonal norms we have experienced in the past and may continue to disrupt the historical quarterly cadence of our results of operations for an unknown period of time.

Our Sourcing and Supplier Relationships

We focus on sourcing well-known frame brands, secondary frame brands, direct import and private label frames and private label contact lenses. We purchase our frame merchandise from a wide variety of vendors, with a limited number of vendors supplying the majority of our eyeglass lenses and contact lenses. We are a large customer for most of our suppliers and we strive to form meaningful, long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationships with our vendors. We have long-term contracts with certain of our key suppliers, including EssilorLuxottica and CooperVision. Under our agreement with EssilorLuxottica, EssilorLuxottica has the sole and exclusive right to supply certain eyeglass lenses to us. The current term of our agreement with EssilorLuxottica runs through May 2028. We are collaborative in our vendor negotiations so as to develop a partnership with our vendors and, in time, a sense of loyalty to National Vision.

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Our Optical Laboratories and Distribution Network

We use a highly efficient mix of four domestic, company-operated manufacturing facilities and have an outsourcing relationship with an international, third-party facility. We have state-of-the-art lens processing capabilities in our geographically diverse, company-operated manufacturing facilities in Lawrenceville, Georgia; St. Cloud, Minnesota; Plano, Texas; and Salt Lake City, Utah. Our centralized manufacturing facilities handle all aspects of customizing eyeglass lenses, and have digital capabilities for grinding, coating and edging to customer prescription and eyeglass frame specifications. We have developed a high-volume, low-cost lens processing model to provide approximately seven- to 10-day turnaround service through our domestic owned facilities and our international partner facility. This network was created through significant investment by us and is leveraged across our portfolio of brands to provide efficiency and scale. We route eyeglass orders to both our owned and outsourced facilities through automated logic that optimizes for manufacturing timeline and cost. This architecture is integrated with the point-of-sale system and enables us to minimize our processing costs, while ensuring on-time deliveries. The processing system is designed such that the more eyeglasses we sell, the more efficient the laboratories become, creating significant cost savings over time.

In addition, our Eyeglass World stores are equipped with on-site laboratories, which can process certain customer orders with same-day service. All lens orders that are not processed or completed in store are processed or completed by our centralized manufacturing network.

We have a 118,000 square foot distribution center in Lawrenceville, Georgia. We utilize third-party carriers to transport products from the distribution center to customers and store locations. We utilize a third-party vendor for contact lens fulfillment and distribution.

Human Capital Management

As of January 3, 2026, we had 13,138 full-time and part-time associates, including 635 directly employed optometrists. As of January 3, 2026, our network of optometrists included 2,367 optometrists, of which 635 were directly employed by us, 1,645 were employed by professional corporations or similar entities with which we contract, and 87 who sublease in our store locations.

Our network of optometrists includes a mix of full-time and part-time optometrists, and this mix can change over time.

We are not a party to any collective bargaining agreements. We have never experienced a strike or work stoppage, and we believe that our relations with our associates and optometrists are good.

Board Oversight

Our Board of Directors (the “Board”) through its committees oversees human capital matters with regular updates and discussion on organizational structure, hiring and retention, compensation and benefits, health and safety matters, employee training and development, succession planning, and associate survey results.

Values and Culture

We aim to maintain a strong and resonating culture guided by our Vision, Mission and Values. We believe everyone deserves to see their best to live their best and our mission is to help people achieve this by making quality eye care and eyewear more affordable and accessible. This purpose is supported by our associates and their values – passion for people, committed to community, results done right, and be your best self.

Talent Acquisition

At National Vision, we are committed to attracting talent aligned with our Vision, Mission and Values. We continue to refine our technology to improve both the candidate and hiring manager experience. In addition, we have established critical partnerships with outside vendors that provide us with additional resources to drive candidate flow for key roles. We are continuing our multi-year sponsorship of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry campaign “Optometry Gives Me Life” targeted at high school and college students, and ensuring that graduating optometrists are educated on the variety of career options available to them. Additionally, we support our associates’ interest in attending Optometry school through our internal National Vision Doctor of Optometry Tuition Reimbursement program, which provides for the reimbursement of education expenses to associates attending optometry school. We utilize both in-person events and online platforms for job fairs and on-campus events, and selectively offer key incentives, such as a student loan repayment program.

Talent Development

We are committed to high-quality training support for our associates. We have increased ongoing training in recent years, especially in the areas of safety protocol procedures and customer interactions, and have enhanced virtual, instructor-led training classes, allowing for high-touch training in a remote setting. We provide associates and optometrists with several

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opportunities and mechanisms through which they can provide feedback, and this allows us to continue developing programs for training and growth.

In 2025, we continued to strengthen NVI onboarding programs introduced in the prior year. Both the store-based new hire and district manager onboarding programs were reviewed, refined, and enhanced. Additionally, training and talent development efforts focused on equipping our frontline teams with the knowledge, skills, and techniques needed to deliver an exceptional customer experience. Each month, store teams participated in multiple in-person training sessions designed to deepen associates’ understanding of lens and frame product knowledge, managed vision care insurance, and selling techniques to help customers choose the best value for their lifestyle. Our training strategy aimed to build associates’ knowledge and confidence, with the ultimate goal of improving customer satisfaction and overall experience.

Benefits and Wellness

We strive to ensure our people always feel supported so they can bring their best selves to work every day. We demonstrate this commitment through many of our benefits and wellness offerings. Programs like our 401(k) plan, core and supplemental life insurance, health plan, short and long-term disability, wellness and disease management programs, including personalized programs for diabetes and hypertension, paid time off, parental and adoption leave, accident, critical illness, group legal and identity theft programs, and a financial protection resource, provide the needed resources essential for helping our people care for themselves and their families. We also offer free on-demand mental and behavioral health resources, to provide needed guidance when work and personal challenges affect an associate’s overall well-being. Additionally, our associates receive an annual associate eyewear ticket and eyewear gift tickets that provide them, along with their friends and family, discounted eyewear purchases in our stores.

Our college scholarship program was established to assist associates with children age 24 or under, who are high school seniors or graduates and planning to enroll in a full-time undergraduate course of study at an accredited U.S. college or university. Each year, ten recipients are granted an award of $2,500 each, and awards are renewable for up to three years for a total scholarship of $10,000. We also provide current and former associates who are in pursuit of a Doctor of Optometry degree with financial support through a tuition reimbursement program.

Our compensation programs are designed to reinforce our growth agenda and talent acquisition strategy. In addition to competitive base pay, we seek to reward associates with annual incentive awards, recognition programs and equity awards for associates at certain levels.

Health and Safety

Our health and well-being efforts are built on a foundational commitment to the safety of our associates and the doctors in our network. We believe that we are in material compliance with applicable Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) guidelines and state regulations. At each of our labs and distribution centers, there are specific leaders responsible for the management of associate safety. For example, lab directors organize and run safety trainings for local associates, some of which are conducted through our Learning Management System and others through in-person instruction. In our retail locations, we support managers and field leaders in understanding and complying with applicable laws and regulations.

Philanthropic Efforts

At National Vision, we believe everyone deserves to see their best to live their best. Our philanthropic culture instills a sense of purpose and engagement in our associates, from in-store team members to senior management. Our associates feel pride in the positive work they are doing, which helps us to attract and retain both store associates and vision care professionals, thus improving the customer experience in our stores. In addition, our mission has been essential to the recruitment and retention of our management team, whose extensive experience is a key component of our business success.

Our financial success has helped fuel our ever-growing philanthropic engine, conducted primarily through 20/20 Quest, a National Vision-sponsored charitable foundation, chartered for the purpose of providing screenings, eye exams, eyeglasses and refractive error solutions to the optically underserved in both the United States and the developing world. In the U.S., through our partnership with charitable organizations, we provide free vision screenings, eye exams and eyeglasses to underserved communities. In addition, through multiple charitable partnerships with organizations such as VisionSpring, RestoringVision, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and VOSH International, we both directly assist and indirectly help to improve the vision of millions of individuals globally. We also work collaboratively with others in the industry to help a portion of the world’s population who live with uncorrected vision problems.

Information Technology

Information technology systems are critical to our day-to-day operations as well as to our long-term growth strategy. Our systems are designed to deliver a consistent, scalable, high-performing and secure experience for our customers, patients, and partners. We utilize a combination of co-location data centers and cloud-based solutions for our

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infrastructure and the majority of our applications consist of standard, integrated software solutions. Our systems provide the data analysis and automation necessary to support our marketing, merchandising, inventory, distribution, store operations and point-of-sale, e-commerce, remote medicine, finance, accounting and human resources initiatives. We believe our current systems allow us to identify and respond to operating trends in our business.

Areas in which we have invested and continue to invest in include, among others, software systems to enhance the growth of enterprise resource planning (“ERP”), CRM, omni-channel, customer engagement efforts, remote medicine and EHR platforms, cybersecurity programs, our overall security posture, point-of-sale systems, and internal user productivity tools.

Intellectual Property

We own a number of registered and common law trademarks and pending applications for trademark registrations in the U.S., primarily through our subsidiaries. Solely for convenience, the trademarks, service marks and trade names referred to in this report are presented without the ®, SM and ™ symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensors to these trademarks, service marks and trade names. All trademarks, service marks and trade names appearing in this Form 10-K (or in documents we have incorporated by reference) are the property of their respective owners.

Government Regulation

Our operations are subject to extensive federal, state and local laws and regulations. Because of the various facets of our business, the scope and extent of laws and regulations applicable to our business are always subject to the risk of change or material increase. Noncompliance with these laws and regulations can subject us to sanctions (including suspension and loss of operating licenses), fines or various forms of civil or criminal prosecution, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows. See Item 1A. “Risk Factors” below for a discussion of these and other risks. A summary of certain laws and regulations is described below.

Corporate Practice of Medicine/Optometry and Similar Laws

Many states prohibit the corporate practice of medicine/optometry where an unlicensed entity practices medicine or employs a physician or optometrist to provide professional medical or optometric services. Further, many states interpret these or similar rules broadly to prohibit employment of certain healthcare professionals by corporations like us and to prohibit various financial arrangements, such as fee-splitting, between some healthcare professionals and other entities. Many states also regulate certain business practices as well as landlord-tenant arrangements between optical companies and optometrists. For example, some states prohibit a common entrance to a retail optical location and an optometric office. These laws and regulations can vary significantly by state, requiring us to tailor our operations in each state to the particular laws of such state. Many of these laws and regulations are vague and subject to the interpretation of regulators and enforcement authorities, which may change over time. States periodically revisit these laws and regulations and we are subject to the ongoing risk that the regulatory scheme in any state could change in ways adverse to us. Our America’s Best operations, which feature a bundled offer of eyeglasses and an eye examination, are particularly implicated by these laws. Additionally, state legislators and regulators may be reluctant to accept telehealth and remote medicine as a way to provide access to quality patient care. There is a disparity across jurisdictions in how telehealth is regulated and how we are able to implement our remote medicine solution. Our ability to launch our remote medicine solution in certain jurisdictions at all or in the most cost-efficient manner is highly dependent on the evolution of these state-by-state requirements and restrictions.

Professional Licensure and Regulation

Our operations are subject to state licensing laws. All states license the practice of ophthalmology and optometry and many states license opticians or ophthalmic dispensers. The dispensing of prescription eyewear is also regulated in most states in which we do business and, in some states, we are required to register our stores as optical dispensaries or the equivalent.

Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (“FCLCA”) and E-commerce Laws

In connection with our sales of contact lenses, we must comply with the FCLCA, and its implementing regulations, including the Contact Lens Rule, promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), which establish a national uniform standard in the U.S. with regard to issuing, releasing and verifying contact lens prescriptions. This law and rule require that we verify prescriptions we receive from our customers prior to selling contact lenses online. A violation of the Contact Lens Rule may constitute an unfair or deceptive act or practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act (the “FTC Act”).

Our e-commerce business must comply with various federal and state laws, most notably the FCLCA. Our online business must also be registered in various states as a non-resident contact lens seller.

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Managed Care Regulation

We are engaged in managed vision care, both as a managed care entity and as a provider to managed care payors and insurers. In California, our subsidiary, FirstSight, a specialized health maintenance organization (“HMO”), is subject to the managed care laws of the State of California and is licensed and comprehensively regulated by the California Department of Managed Health Care (the “DMHC”). These regulations contain operating, disclosure, reporting and financial viability requirements, among others. Material changes to the operations of FirstSight, including the opening of America’s Best locations outside of defined service areas, must be approved by the DMHC. This approval process can be complex and can cause delays in the projected opening of our stores. We also offer Eyecare Club programs pursuant to which, in exchange for a fixed payment, individuals can obtain eye examinations and discounts on eyeglasses, contact lenses and accessories during the program period. These programs may be subject to regulation under managed care and related state laws, including those of California, where these programs are offered as managed care products by FirstSight. In addition, our Eyecare Club programs may subject us to state laws regulating discount medical plans. These laws, which have been adopted in a number of states, require the licensing or registration of organizations that provide discounted access to health care providers. It is possible that state regulators could determine that we are operating as a discount medical plan and thus subject to various registration, disclosure and solvency requirements.

Privacy and Security

We directly collect, use, access, disclose, transmit and/or store protected health information (“PHI”) and personally identifiable information (“PII”) in connection with the sales of our products and services, customer service, billing and employment practices. As a health care provider and as a business associate to health care providers, we are subject to federal and state laws governing privacy and security, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) and its implementing regulations, such as the Privacy Rule, the Security Rule and the Breach Notification Rule. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (the “HITECH Act”) extends the Privacy Rule and the Security Rule directly to business associates. We are also subject to comparable state health privacy laws to the extent they are more protective of individual privacy than the Privacy Rule. We believe that the Office of Civil Rights, which is the enforcement agency for HIPAA, may implement modest changes to HIPAA in 2026, pursuant to a notice of proposed rulemaking that was issued in December 2020. Moreover, nearly all states have adopted their own data breach laws with comparable (and sometimes conflicting) standards and requirements. These state laws apply to breaches of specified elements of PII. In addition, more than a dozen states, including California, have adopted comprehensive consumer privacy laws, and additional states may amend or adopt new laws or regulations regarding data privacy that may be applicable to us, including additional consumer privacy laws.

Laws Related to Reimbursement by Government Programs

Our participation in federal reimbursement programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, subjects us to state and federal laws and regulations with respect to anti-kickback, false claims and physician self-referral, among other similar areas. The federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, paying, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, to induce, or in exchange for, the referral of an individual or purchasing, furnishing, recommending or arranging for a good or service for which payment may be made under a federal healthcare program, such as Medicare or Medicaid. The definition of “remuneration” has been broadly interpreted to include anything of value, including, for example, gifts, certain discounts, the furnishing of free supplies, equipment, office space or services, credit arrangements, payment of cash and waivers of payments. Healthcare providers that have financial relationships may structure their arrangements to meet certain voluntary safe harbors under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute so that such financial relationships and business practices are not treated as offenses under the statute. Several courts have found a violation of the statute’s intent requirement where the purpose of an arrangement involving remuneration is to induce referrals of patients or consumers purchasing healthcare goods or services paid for, in whole or in part, by federal government programs. There are also a number of healthcare fraud statutes that impose criminal and civil liability for, among other things, knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, or knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false statement, in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, healthcare benefits, items or services. A person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the Anti-Kickback Statute or healthcare fraud statutes, or specific intent to violate them in order to have committed a violation. Many states have adopted similar laws that apply to third-party payors including commercial plans.

In addition, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute provides that any claim for government reimbursement in violation of the statute also violates the False Claims Act (“FCA”). The FCA prohibits intentionally submitting, conspiring to submit, or causing to be submitted, false or otherwise improper claims, records or statements to the federal government, or intentionally failing to return overpayments, in connection with reimbursement by federal government programs. Most states have enacted false claims laws analogous to the FCA, and both federal and state false claims laws permit private individuals to file qui tam or “whistleblower” lawsuits on behalf of the federal or state government. The Social Security Act also imposes significant penalties for false or improper Medicare and Medicaid billings.

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The U.S. Physician Self-Referral Law, or the Stark Law, generally prohibits physicians (which the Stark Law defines to include optometrists) from referring, for “designated health services” (as defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services), Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries to any entity with which the physician or an immediate family member of the physician has a financial relationship unless an exemption applies. The Stark Law further prohibits the entity receiving a prohibited referral from presenting a claim for reimbursement by Medicare or Medicaid for services furnished pursuant to the prohibited referral. The Stark Law has a number of specific exceptions for financial arrangements that do not pose a risk of abuse to Medicare programs or patient abuse. Many states have adopted similar self-referral laws that may not be limited to Medicare or Medicaid reimbursed services. In some cases, the rental of space constitutes a financial relationship under this law. The Stark Law is a strict liability law, meaning that intent is not required; the mere presence of a prohibited relationship may constitute a violation if an exception is not met.

Federal Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) Regulation

The FDA generally has authority to, among other things, regulate the manufacture, distribution, sale and labeling of medical devices, including contact and eyeglass lenses. Under the U.S. Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (the “FDC Act”), medical devices must meet a number of regulatory requirements. We engage in certain manufacturing, repackaging and relabeling activities at our optical laboratories and in certain Eyeglass World stores, which subject us to the FDA’s registration, listing and quality requirements. We are required to register our centralized laboratories with the FDA.

Consumer Protection Laws

Federal and state consumer protection laws and regulations can apply to our operations and retail offers. Some of our promotions, such as our America’s Best offer of a “free” eye exam, are subject to compliance with laws and regulations governing use of this term. Further, FTC’s Contact Lens Rule (referenced above) and the similar Eyeglass Rule require that we provide a copy of eyeglass or contact lens prescriptions upon completion of an eye examination or contact lens fitting, and violations may constitute unfair or deceptive trade practices. The FTC has authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act to investigate and prosecute practices that are “unfair trade practices,” “deceptive trade practices,” or “unfair methods of competition.” State attorneys general typically have comparable authority and many states permit private plaintiffs to bring actions on the basis of these laws. In addition, state regulators or boards of optometry may challenge our promotional practices, including America’s Best’s bundled offers, as, among other things, violating applicable state laws regarding unfair competition, false advertising to consumers or corporate practice of optometry prohibitions.

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”)

We source a significant portion of our products from outside of the U.S. The FCPA and other similar anti-bribery and anti-kickback laws and regulations generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments or offering anything of value to non-U.S. officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Our policies and our code of conduct mandate compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including these.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (“PCI Standard”)

Because we accept debit and credit cards for payment, we are subject to the PCI Standard, which contains compliance guidelines with regard to our security surrounding the physical and electronic storage, processing and transmission of cardholder data. Certain states have incorporated these requirements into state law. Our credit card agreements with our banks require that we comply with this standard and pay any fines or assessments imposed by the credit card companies in the event of a compromise of card data.

Service Contract Regulations

We offer product protection plans for our eyeglasses. In certain states, laws governing service contracts regulate these plans. These laws, which vary by state, mandate that sellers of such contracts comply with various registration, disclosure and financial requirements. It is possible that regulators in certain states could determine that our extended warranty plans should be subject to these laws.

Environmental and Safety Regulation

Our optical laboratories in the U.S. and our in-store laboratories within Eyeglass World locations subject us to various federal, state and local laws, regulations, and other requirements pertaining to protection of the environment, public health, and associate safety, including, for example, regulations governing the management of hazardous substances and the maintenance of safe working conditions. These laws also apply generally to all our properties. Our failure to comply with these laws can subject us to criminal and civil liabilities.

Employment Laws and Occupational Safety and Health Administration

We are a labor-intensive business that is subject to complex labor and employment laws established by federal, state and local laws and regulations. These laws and regulations govern areas that include working conditions, paid time off, workplace safety, wage and hour standards and hiring and employment practices.

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In particular, we are subject to the requirements of OSHA and other federal and state agencies that address employee health, including from infectious diseases and safety.

We currently have processes in place to support our compliance with these requirements. Based on new or revised regulatory developments, we may be required to take additional actions or increase expenditures in the future to comply with changing employment requirements and higher industry and regulatory safety standards.

Insurance and Risk Management

We use a combination of purchased insurance and self-insurance for workers’ compensation, general liability, property, director and officers’ liability, vehicle liability, and associate health-care benefits, among others. Liabilities associated with the risks that are retained by us are estimated, in part, by considering historical claims experience, demographic factors, severity factors and other actuarial assumptions. Where we have retained risk through self-insurance or similar arrangements, we utilize third-party firms to assist management in assessing the financial impact of risk retention.

Our Website and Availability of SEC Reports and Other Information

Our website is www.nationalvision.com. Investors can obtain copies free of charge of our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to these reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish such material to, the SEC. You may access these documents on the “Investors” section of our website. The SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at the following address: http://www.sec.gov.

We also make available free of charge on our website our Corporate Governance Guidelines, our Code of Conduct and the charters of our Audit Committee, our Compensation Committee and our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. The information posted to our website is not incorporated into this Form 10-K or any other report we file with the SEC.