LensCrafters is an international retailer of prescription eyewear and prescription sunglasses. Its stores usually host independent optometrists on-site or in an adjacent store. The company has its corporate headquarters in Mason, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati in the US.
LensCrafters has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Luxottica (which has since merged with Essilor to form EssilorLuxottica), the largest eyewear company in the world, since 1995. At the end of 2018, Luxottica operated 1,158 LensCrafters stores, of which 1,050 are located in North America and 108 are located in China, Hong Kong and India.
LensCrafters was founded in March 1983 by E. Dean Butler, who had been a manager with Procter & Gamble. Butler first developed the idea for a "while you wait" eyeglass retailer after helping a Procter & Gamble colleague produce television commercials for a family optical business in the late 1970s.
LensCrafters achieved sales of 2millioninitsfirstyearofoperationbeforeButlersoldthecompanytotheUnitedStatesShoeCorporationin1984.ButlerremainedasLensCrafters′CEOuntil1988.LensCraftershadjustthreelocationswhenU.S.Shoepurchasedit;by1989,therewere350locations,andLensCrafterswasgenerating40In1992,LensCrafterssurpassedPearleVisiontobecomethelargestchainofeyeglassretailersintheUnitedStates,withroughly660 million in annual revenue.
In 1995, Luxottica launched a hostile takeover attempt of U.S. Shoe, with the goal of acquiring LensCrafters. Luxottica announced in April 1995, that it had reached an agreement to purchase U.S. Shoe for $1.4 billion.
Luxottica acquired Pearle Vision in 2004, combining the country's two largest eyewear retailers.
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