INDEPENDENCE

On the 4th of July we hear a lot about ‘Independence’. When it comes to sunglasses, independence may be our strongest suit. Sure we sell great looking, high quality polarized sunglasses @ reasonable, direct-to-consumer prices. We’re also an independent small business selling more sunglasses than ever before for $65 a pair.

Essilor of France merged with the Luxottica Group of Italy in a $49 billion deal that created the world’s largest eyewear company. The combined company, EssilorLuxottica, has 140,000 employees in 150 countries & $16 billion in sales.

They own LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, all the Sunglass Hut stores plus vision insurance companies. They also own brand names Ray-Ban, Oakley, Costa, Arnette, Foster Grant, Oliver Peoples, Persol & others. With size comes pricing power, the power to keep them high; often $150 to $350.

So we’re celebrating our independence and still laughing at Adam Conover’s hysterical take on the situation; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAeHuDcy_bY