Sterling Optical
The total investment to open a Sterling Optical franchise ranges from $33,000 to $2.1M. The initial franchise fee is $10,000. Ongoing royalties are 8% plus a 6% advertising fee.
What is the Sterling Optical franchise?
Sterling Optical is an optical business where customers can get eye care and buy eyewear. The estimated total initial investment to open is $33,000 to $2,094,000. The initial franchise fee is $10,000.
The royalty is 8 percent of sales, and the advertising or brand fund fee is 6 percent.
Sterling Optical is headquartered in Garden City, NY, and was founded in 1914.
Loan Activity Score
24/100
SBA Default Rate
27.3%
Active Lenders
7
According to its Franchise Disclosure Document or public business records, Sterling Optical has 11 locations, all owned by franchisees. Public SBA loan records show 7 lenders made 11 loans to franchisees of Sterling Optical. PeerSense calculates Sterling Optical's score as 24 out of 100, using public SBA loan performance and recent lending activity.
Franchising since 1914 · 11 locations
$33,000 to $2.1M
$10,000
11
11 franchised
Proprietary PeerSense metric
LimitedDistinct lenders in public SBA records for Sterling Optical
11
Total SBA loans
$255K
Average loan size
Source: public SBA 7(a) and 504 loan records through December 31, 2025
Referral fee at closing
SBA Lending Activity for Sterling Optical
Loan Activity Score Breakdown
Growing (10 to 24 loans)
Are lenders increasingly or decreasingly funding this brand? Growing trends score highest.
Blended default rate (recent + all time) compared to NAICS sector peers.
Quality lenders actively backing this brand, with penalty for lender pullback.
FDD availability, Item 19 disclosure, and overall data completeness.
Geographic spread of SBA funded locations across states.
SBA Lending Performance
SBA Default Rate
27.3%
vs 3.2% peer avg
SBA Loans
11
Total Volume
$2.8M
Active Lenders
7
States
8
vs. SBA Sector Average
SBA loan default rate vs. all franchises in the same NAICS sector, not limited to direct competitors
Key Highlights
Franchise Financing Resources
Data Insights
Key performance metrics for Sterling Optical based on SBA lending data
SBA Default Rate
27.3%
24.1% above peer avg
SBA Loan Volume
11 loans
Across 7 lenders
Lender Diversity
7 lenders
Avg 1.6 loans per lender
Investment Tier
Premium investment
$33,000 to $2,094,000 total
Payment Estimator
Estimated Monthly Payment
$342
Principal & Interest only
Indicative only, as of October 1, 2026. Not a quote, commitment or offer of credit. Final pricing, leverage and terms are determined by the lender at underwriting, after full transaction materials are reviewed. PeerSense sources the file. The lender sets pricing. What these terms mean.
Locations
Sterling Optical, unit breakdown
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Reviewed by Edward L. Freeman, Founder and Managing Director, PeerSense
- PeerSense is a capital advisory firm that places commercial financing with direct capital sources; the capital source sets final terms.
- Edward L. Freeman founded PeerSense in January 2020.
- He is a Registered Franchise Consultant with Business Alliance, Inc., a credential issued in March 2022, and worked as a franchise consultant there from March 2022 to May 2023.
- His recorded experience includes a $22 million SBA construction loan, with about $16 million funded on the deal.
- In the 12 months through September 30, 2026, PeerSense tracked 912 publicly announced financings with a disclosed size of $361.32 billion. PeerSense Capital Data Report · Methodology page
Last reviewed LinkedIn profileAbout Edward Freeman