Independence Blue Cross Welcomes Visionworks’ Retail Expansion in Philadelphia with Official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Eye wear retailer officially debuts in new market with celebration at new store in South Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Visionworks will celebrate its Greater Philadelphia market grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the newly-opened Columbus Commons store in South Philadelphia on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. The event will begin at 9 a.m. with leaders from Visionworks and Independence Blue Cross, who are teaming up to offer additional options to meet customers’ vision needs. Local community and business leaders also are expected to attend.

“We strive to provide the highest quality eye care, the best values in eye wear and an exceptional in-store shopping experience for Philadelphians, while also creating jobs with terrific career growth opportunities. We see it as a win-win for our business and for the community.”

“Visionworks promises to help customers find ‘A Better You,’ and we took that to heart when expanding our business to this great American city,” said Jim Eisen, president of Visionworks. “We strive to provide the highest quality eye care, the best values in eye wear and an exceptional in-store shopping experience for Philadelphians, while also creating jobs with terrific career growth opportunities. We see it as a win-win for our business and for the community.”

Independence Blue Cross and Visionworks are teaming up to provide access to high quality affordable vision care from the point of the initial eye examination through the process of receiving a prescription and pair of eyeglasses.

“We welcome Visionworks’ entrance into our market and we are excited to team up with Highmark, a like minded Blue, which owns HVHC Inc., Visionworks’ parent company, through our new financial interest arrangement. This is yet another example of IBC’s corporate growth strategy to offer customers a wider variety of vision, dental and other specialized, ancillary products and services,” said Richard J. Neeson, IBC executive vice president and president of expanding markets, who also will participate in the ribbon cutting event. “Our vision plan customers can now use Visionworks’ optical retail centers to get eyeglasses and personalized one-on-one attention, the best value, and the best service — all at a great price.”

The following day, Saturday, Oct. 13, Visionworks will host a Columbus Commons store grand opening event for the public where, from noon to 2 p.m., there will be giveaways, a live radio remote and chances to win free eye wear. Special grand opening retail promotions will be available at all area stores.

In addition to offering Philadelphians a new choice in vision care, IBC’s arrangement with Visionworks’ retail locations are bringing upwards of 600 new jobs to the Philadelphia area. Stores are hiring for both hourly and full-time positions ranging from Lab Technicians to Doctors of Optometry.

San Antonio-based Visionworks already has opened eight stores in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey, with plans to open a total of 25 stores throughout the Greater Philadelphia market by the end of 2013. Currently there are three Visionworks stores operating in the city of Philadelphia, with other stores now open in Willow Grove, Exton and Allentown, Pennsylvania, as well as in Deptford and Mays Landing, New Jersey.

To learn more about Visionworks, including a full list of Philadelphia-area locations and upcoming store openings, visit www.visionworks.com/philadelphia.

About Visionworks

Visionworks (formerly Eye Care Centers of America, Inc.) is a leading provider of eye care services with more than 550 optical retail stores in 39 states and the District of Columbia through 12 store names that are leaders in eye care service in each of their respective markets. Visionworks is committed to providing its customers with an excellent shopping experience and high quality products and service with the best value and selection in the industry. All of Visionworks stores offer designer and exclusive brand frames, lenses, sunglasses and accessories along with leading technology in vision correction. Each store’s comprehensive service offerings include in-store labs which provide one-hour service on most prescriptions and contact lenses at nearly all locations and doctors of optometry at or next to every store. Visionworks is a wholly owned subsidiary of HVHC Inc., a Highmark company. For more information about Visionworks, visit www.visionworks.com.

About Independence Blue Cross

Independence Blue Cross is a leading health insurer in southeastern Pennsylvania. With our affiliates, we have 3.1 million members nationwide. For nearly 75 years, we have been enhancing the health and wellness of the people and communities we serve by delivering innovative and competitively priced health care products and services; pioneering new ways to reward doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers for coordinated, quality care; and supporting programs and events that promote wellness. To learn more about how we’re changing the game, visit www.ibx.com. Connect with us on Facebook at ibx.com/facebook and on Twitter at @ibx. Independence Blue Cross is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. In addition, an affiliate of Independence Blue Cross has a financial interest in Visionworks.