9/5/2023 0 Comments Monopoly man eyeglass“That’s how they gained control of so many brands,” Dahan said. Luxottica acquired Oakley a few years later, adding it to Ray-Ban, which Luxottica obtained in 1999. The company’s stock immediately lost more than a third of its value. “We have made every reasonable effort to establish a mutually beneficial business partnership with Luxottica, but it is clear from this week’s surprising actions that our efforts have been ignored,” Oakley’s management said in a statement at the time. Within months, Oakley acknowledged to shareholders that the talks hadn’t gone well and that Luxottica was slashing its orders. It promptly told Oakley it wanted to pay significantly lower wholesale prices or it would reduce its orders and push its own brands instead. Luxottica purchased Sunglass Hut in early 2001. Its biggest customer by far was Sunglass Hut, which, like LensCrafters, had stores in malls across the country. It raised $230 million with an initial public offering of stock in 1995. Indeed, the California maker of premium sunglasses was embraced by skiers and other outdoorsy types after it released its first sunglasses in 1984. Dahan was forced to close his business in 2001. Luxottica increasingly emphasized its own frames over those of outside suppliers, he said, and Custom Optical’s sales plunged. It was to take control of LensCrafters’ hundreds of stores nationwide.ĭahan said things went downhill for him after that. The goal wasn’t to get into the shoe business. In 1995, Luxottica purchased LensCrafters’ parent company, U.S. Yet those same frames and lenses might sell in the United States for $800.īutler laughed. “For $15, you can get designer-quality frames, like what you’d get from Prada.”Īnd lenses? “You can buy absolutely first-quality lenses for $1.25 apiece,” Butler said. “You can get amazingly good frames, with a Warby Parker level of quality, for $4 to $8,” Butler said. Improved technology has made prices even lower than what Dahan recalled. Nowadays, he said, those same glasses at LensCrafters might cost hundreds of dollars.īutler said he recently visited factories in China where many glasses for the U.S. He said LensCrafters would turn around and charge $99 for completed glasses that cost $20 or $30 to make - and this was well below what many independent opticians charged. With fancy coatings, that could boost the price all the way to $15. Lenses, he said, might cost about $5 a pair to produce. When he was in the business, in the 1980s and ’90s, Dahan said it cost him between $10 and $16 to manufacture a pair of quality plastic or metal frames. These days he’s based in England, but serves as a consultant to optical businesses worldwide.īoth Butler and Dahan acknowledged what most consumers have long suspected: that the prices we pay for eyewear in no way reflect the actual cost of making frames and lenses. He’s no longer affiliated with LensCrafters. “He was a key supplier - good product at reasonable prices,” Butler, 74, said in a phone interview from Berlin, where he was meeting with optical-industry contacts. Dean Butler, the founder of LensCrafters, remembers Dahan as “a real go-getter.” “They called me their crown jewel,” Dahan said.Į. Here’s how to do it »Įventually, he said, his company was supplying LensCrafters with about 20% of its frames. “Those were successful, so they kept buying more.”īuying glasses online can save you a lot of money. “They bought my lens machines, and soon I was selling them a few models of frames,” Dahan said. In short order he also was designing plastic and metal frames, and proposed to LensCrafters in 1985 that he supply the then-independent company. Or it understands that no reasonable defense is possible.ĭahan, a chemical engineer by training, established a company called Custom Optical in 1977 after designing a machine capable of making prescription lenses appear thinner. Neither company responded, which was the same response I received the last time I contacted them.Īpparently EssilorLuxottica feels no need to defend its business practices. I asked if they’d like to respond to his specific points or to speak generally about optical pricing. Just so you know up front, I reached out to both Luxottica and its parent company with what Dahan told me.
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