[4] By the 1970s the chain was owned by G. D. Searle Pharmaceutical, with founder Stanley Pearle serving as a board member.

In 1996, Grand Met sold the Pearle stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico to Cole National Corporation, which operated optical departments inside such retail stores as Sears, BJ's Wholesale Club and Target.

HAL Investments bought the Belgian stores 1 year later from GIB and merged both chains into Pearle Benelux.

Luxottica, owner of LensCrafters, purchased Cole National in 2004, a deal that brought together the two largest eyewear retailers in the United States.

[7] The Pearle chain of opticians in Europe is now part of Grandvision and has more than 1000 branches in 43 countries including the Netherlands (pearle.nl), Belgium, Germany (Apollo-Optik), Austria (pearle.at), Poland, Portugal, Italy, Finland and Estonia.