EyeSite kiosks headed for two new markets

SoloHealth, the privately-held, Duluth-based supplier of self-service vision screening kiosks to retailers like Kroger, Wal-Mart and Walgreens, plans to expand into two new markets and more than double its locations.

The kiosks, called EyeSite, will be placed in St. Louis and in one other new market, and will be in 50 retail locations by next month, said company founder Bart Foster.

EyeSite currently has 20 locations in metro Atlanta and Birmingham, Ala.

Foster said 120,000 people have used EyeSite in the nine months since the kiosks were first placed in stores, usage that he termed, “robust.” The recession could spur more traffic, he said.

EyeSite is a free vision testing machine. It is not intended to replace eye examinations by physicians, Foster said, but rather to encourage people to get a full examination that looks for significant eye problems.

One-quarter of the people who have used EyeSite had never received an eye exam from a doctor, according to data gathered through the kiosks’ interactive display.

“We want to change that,” said Foster, formerly an executive with CIBA Vision, an Atlanta-based maker of eye-care products. “It shows that consumers, when they think of their overall health, don’t necessarily think of their eyes.”

The company generates revenue from physicians who pay to have their practices listed on the EyeSite referral directory, and from Transitions Optical, a lens-maker whose product is also noted.

SoloHealth hopes to increase the number of retail outlets for EyeSite kiosks by convincing store operators that their presence will attract customers.