When it comes to quality prescription eyewear, Lenscrafters is one of the top brands out there.
LensCrafters is an international retailer of prescription sunglasses and eyewear. The company was founded in 1983 by E. Dean Butler with the motive to offer quality eyewear to customers.
Currently, the company is headquartered in Mason, Ohio. Being an international company, it has its presence in several countries outside the U.S. This includes Canada, India, Hong Kong, and Puerto Rico.
It has set up numerous stores in different places. The good thing about their stores is that they usually host optometrists on-site.
For your information, LensCrafters became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Luxottica, the world’s largest eyewear company in 1995. By the end of 2018, Luxottica operated 1,158 LensCrafters stores, with the most number of stores being based in North America.
Like any other company, LensCrafters also has its list of competitors or rivals. We will be discussing some of the top LensCrafters’ competitors in this post.
Why LensCrafters is so successful?
LensCrafters is one of the leading players in the eyewear industry. It is not just present in the United States, but also Puerto Rico and Canada.
The chain of their service is large and includes 860 locations. So what’s the reason behind their success? Let’s find that out in the pointers below.
- Focus on high-quality products
Since the very beginning, the company has focused on delivering high-quality products to customers.
All LensCrafters products are designed keeping the requirements of customers in mind. This has enabled the company to occupy a reputable position in the market.
- Well-trained staff
This is one thing that many companies tend to ignore. In today’s competitive world just offering quality, eyewear is not enough. Customers want more than that. This is why LensCrafters focus on employing well-trained staff in their stores.
The company is known to offer the quickest on-site services. In short, LensCrafters is all about providing a seamless customer experience.
- Advance digital technology
The adoption of advanced digital technologies has enabled the company to offer innovative and customer-centric eyecare services. Over the years, it has established itself as a trusted eye care brand in the market.
LensCrafters Competitors
LensCrafters eyewear is great. But it is not the only company in the market. There exist many other big names that give tough competition to LensCrafters. Let’s take a look at the top competitors or alternatives of LensCrafters.
The adoption of advanced digital technologies has enabled the company to offer innovative and customer-centric eyecare services. Over the years, it has established itself as a trusted eye care brand in the market.
LensCrafters Competitors
LensCrafters eyewear is great. But it is not the only company in the market. There exist many other big names that give tough competition to LensCrafters.
Let’s take a look at the top competitors or alternatives of LensCrafters.
1. Visionworks
Visionworks of America, Inc. is an American company that operates 711 optical retail stores across 40 states in the United States and the District of Columbia.
The company was founded in 1988. At the time of incorporation, it was named Doctor’s Value Vision. Later the name was changed to Visionworks.
Currently, the headquarters are based in Downtown San Antonio, Texas. The company has its presence in approx. 699 different locations and is backed by 8,000 employees.
For your information, it was once a subsidiary of HVHC. In 2019, the company was acquired by VSP Global. All Visionworks stores sell lenses, frames, sunglasses, and other related accessories.
Comprehensive service offerings include in-store labs, optometrists, contact lens dispensing, and more. The company sells contact lenses both online and offline.
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2. Pearle Vision
Pearle Vision is one of the largest chains of eye care stores in America. The company was founded back in 1961 by Stanley Pearle. Since then it has emerged as a massive eye care provider in America.
It has positioned itself as the largest franchised optical retailer in North America. In 2004, the company was acquired by Luxottica, the largest eyewear company in the world.
As of 2018, Pearle Vision had 419 franchises and 110 corporate stores throughout North America. The founder of the company Stanley Pearle was an optometrist himself.
In 1971, he bought an optical chain owned by Larry Kohan and Robert Hillman. Both of them helped Pearle to expand his company and take it to a national level.
The Pearle chain of opticians in Europe now belongs to Grandvision and owns more than 1000 branches in 43 different countries. The company also has its presence in the Middle East where it has 18 stores located in Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Egypt, and KSA.
3. Vision Express
Vision Express is a well-known British company that specializes in contact lenses and spectacles. It was founded in 1988 and has its headquarters in Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, England.
The company has its presence in multiple places including the UK, Jersey, and ROI. The first-ever Vision Express was set up in 1988, at the MetroCentre, Gateshead. In 1993, the company bought seven superstores from US Shoe Corp Cincinnati.
Two years later in 1995, the first joint venture store was opened. By 2007, the company had 220 stores across the UK. In 2008, Vision Works acquired seventy-five Batemans Opticians stores in Southern England and rebranded them under the company’s name.
Currently, the company owns 575 stores throughout the UK, Republic of Ireland, and Jersey. Of these 195 stores are fully operated by the company, while the remaining stores are under joint venture partnerships.
4. Optical Express
Optical Express is an established retail optical service and laser eye surgery specialist in the UK and Ireland. Besides that, the company also provides refractive treatment, such as cataract surgery and lens surgery.
The company was founded in 1991 by David Moulsdale. The headquarters are based in Glasgow, Scotland. For your information, Optical Express is a trading name of DCM Limited, which operates as the Optical Express Group.
Optical Express is the market leader in refractive surgery. They entered the said market in 2002 after acquiring The Health Clinic.
They offer several healthcare services and even owned a private hospital in Manchester. However, that was shut down in 2015. In 2004, Optical Express bought two Free Vision Euro Eyes Laser vision correction clinics in The Hague and Amsterdam.
This enabled them to establish the first large-scale UK-based optical chain to extend its laser vision correction service in the Netherlands. Following year, the company acquired Alliance Boots.
5. EyeBuyDirect
EyeBuyDirect, Inc. is a well-known name in the eyewear industry. It is an online retailer of prescription glasses.
Besides that, the company also specializes in non-prescription glasses, computer glasses, and sunglasses. It was established in 2005 by Roy Hessel in Austin, Texas.
Although the company is based in the United States, they have operations in Hong Kong and China as well. They sell their products worldwide
. After one year of establishment, the company launched its online website in 2005. The website was redesigned and launched again in 2014. Some of the notable products of EyeBuyDirect are EyeZen digital screen protection lenses and EBD Blue lenses.
In 2007, they introduced a “try-on” option on its site. This is a useful function that allows users to upload their photos and try on the glasses they want to buy.
The company also launched a social network site called Wall of Frame where customers can share their pictures and interact with other users.
In 2010, the company started incorporating facial recognition technology into its site.
5. Moscot
Moscot is a family-run, luxury eyewear brand based in America. The company is 107 years old and was founded in 1915 by Hyman Moscot on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is been operated by five generations of the Moscot family.
The company is currently headquartered in New York City. It specializes in sunglasses and optical frames. This is one of the oldest local eyewear businesses in New York.
Moscot offers a wide range of frames, sunglasses, and glasses. Together they are categorized as Moscot Spirit Collections and Moscot Originals. They mostly use beta-titanium and acetate for their products.
In 2008, the brand teamed up with Chris Benz, the famous fashion designer for a limited edition run for its classic frame, the Nebb. These glasses were available in four different colors and there were only 200 of them.
Since then the company has collaborated with many well-known figures like Johan Lindeberg, Simon Miller, Myles Kennedy, and Tariq Trotter for various projects.
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6. FramesDirect.com
Next in the line, we have FramesDirect.com which is an international online eyewear brand. The company deals in a variety of eyewear products such as contact lenses, sunglasses, and eyeglasses through its online site.
Besides that, the company also deals in brand name and designer eyewear products and has over 110,000 models available on its website.
FramesDirect.com was founded in 1996 by David Cooper and Guy Hodgson. Before establishing this company, they worked for various optometry businesses. This is one of the very first online optical retail stores in America. Currently, the company is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
Just so you know the company has been recognized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and MassMutual Financial Group with a Blue Chip Enterprise Award. The company offers over 400 brand name frames such as Oakley, Ray-Ban, etc.
From prescription eyeglasses to frames to plain sunglasses, everything can be purchased from their online website. After selecting a frame, customers go through a three-step process before finally placing their order.
7. Sunski
Sunski is a well-known sunglasses and lifestyle apparel brand based in America. It is fairly a new brand that came into existence in 2012.
It has its headquarters based in San Francisco, California. The company was launched on Kickstarter with the intent of offering affordable polarised sunglasses.
The company has positioned itself as an independent brand to the existing conglomerates that currently dominate the eyewear market.
It is a member of 1% For The Planet and donates a certain percentage of its revenue to the organization. Not just that, but they also organize various charitable events from time to time.
Like most other eyewear companies today, Sunski also has its online website. Customers can select and purchase quality eyewear from their website.
The company claims to make the best sunglasses for outdoor adventure. Compared to other companies, the price of Sunski sunglasses is low.
8. Foster Grant
Foster Grant is an established eyewear brand in America. It was founded in 1919 by Sam Foster. The company is headquartered in Smithfield, Rhode Island.
For those who don’t know it is a subsidiary company of FGX International, which is a wholesaler of consumer goods.
The founder Sam Foster quit his job to establish his own plastic company. His first major product was hair combs. Later he started making ladies’ hair accessories. Besides that, the company also produced other plastic goods.
It was in the 1960s when Foster Grant started making sunglasses. The company collaborated with many celebrities to promote its products. Foster Grant is a subsidiary of FGX International, which is a subsidiary of EssilorLuxottica.
9. Target Optical
Target Optical specializes in sunglasses, prescription glasses, and contact lenses. It is an optical company located inside Target stores. This company was established in 1995 by the Cole National Corp. It is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.
In 2004, Luxottica acquired Cole National Corp, including the company’s holdings like Pearle Vision. After that Luxottica dissolved the Cole structure in North America.
10. GlassesUSA
GlassesUSA.com is an online retailer of sunglasses, prescription glasses, and contact lenses. The company is based in America and was founded in 2008.
It is a vertically integrated company that owns and manages its entire supply chain. It sells over 10,000 optical products, brands, and styles.
The company was founded by Daniel Rothman, Eldad Rothman, and Roy Yamner in 2008. Many of you may not know this but this company is a part of the Optimax Eyewear group. GlassesUSA serves over 2.4 million customers.
The company’s website gets 26 million yearly visits. The company raised a fund of $95 million with Viola Growth, which happens to be the company’s leading investor.
In 2015, the company launched its house brands, including Amelia E, Ottoto, Muse, and Revel. It includes over 3,500 optical styles. It started selling contact lenses in 2017. Today, they offer multiple brand names like Air Optix, Acuvue, and others.
These companies are equally good as LensCrafters. But it has its way of doing things and beating its competition.
