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I have recently seen TV ads for Vista Optical Centers "inside selected Fred Meyer stores" It seemed like these were in nearly every Fred Meyer location in the late 80s-early 90s. However, in recent times, there only are a handful of them in older stores. Many have done away with them as they were remodeled over the years. I do not know of one built within the last ten years with an optical center. I got to wondering if these were originally ran by Fred Meyer, and then turned over to independent operators, or if they were Vista from the start. It seems like Vista had a few mall-based locations at one point also, but I am not sure if they ever operated stores that were not part of a Fred Meyer location.

Looking in the Seattle Times online archives, I found a help-wanted ad for Vista from 1984 that has a contact person at Western States Optical in Tempe, Ariz. That must have been their parent company at the time. Today they are a banner of National Vision, Inc., of Lawrenceville, Ga.

Before Fred Meyer opened their Bremerton, Wash., store in 1990, there was a standalone Vista Optical in the Sheridan Village Shopping Center. If I recall correctly, they closed the Sheridan Village store at the same time the Fred Meyer location opened. (This Fred Meyer no longer has a Vista Optical, by the way.) In nearby Silverdale, there was a Vista Optical in the Kitsap Mall. So, in the past, they weren't all in Fred Meyer stores, but it sounds like they are now.

There was a Vista Optical at Southcenter Mall up until about five years ago as well. Looking at a map at their website, it shows Vista Optical at four Fred Meyers (Bellevue, Renton, Ballard and Auburn) in the Seattle metro area currently. I think Kirkland may have had one up until about two remodels ago (the store just completed a major remodel back in September.)