running tonight on why eyeglasses are so expensive.
running tonight on why eyeglasses are so expensive.
Check the posts below this one
The tease I saw this morning didn't even mention Luxottica. Just looked like a typical hit piece on our ridiculous markups.
Just saw it. That piece doesn't even begin to show how the Evil Empire has changed the optical business. I've dealt with Luxottica since its old Avant Garde days. I dealt with the Luxottica buyout of Pearle......I've been to the national meetings and any ECP that deals with Luxottica does so at their own peril!
"Coimhéad fearg fhear na foighde"
All of the consolidation on Bush's watch. Blame your pols and the FTC
Still, consumers have choice, including Zenni, Coastal and others.
You make yer choice!
Last edited by Barry Santini; 10-08-2012 at 08:13 PM.
A poor performance by Lux on why eye wear costs what it does in the average optical. #1; material costs don't have a lot to do with final consumer delivery costs.
Lux started is march to dominance LONG before Bush, Barry.......
"Coimhéad fearg fhear na foighde"
Sunglass Hut, Pearl, Cole, Oakley, Sears and BJ's Optical all were done deals under GWB. Not to mention FCLCA.Originally Posted by EyeManFla
The FTC and our govt lost site of the hidden power of monopolies.
B
Why the outrage? It's no different than any number of industry leaders heavy handed tactics.
You can blame anyone you chose, just remember ECP's continue to purchase and promote the products.
Oh yeah, pick on eyewear. Why does beer cost so much is what I want to know....
Eyeglassses don't get any respect.
But perhaps they don't deserve it.
Maybe only the ECP does.
Think about it.
B
Would any of us have any jobs without the "Evil Empire" that they portrayed. We wanna pick on something...lets BASH the oil companies! Keep it out of our industry and be thankful that our industry HAS grown to what it is. I agree with you Judy & Austin!. Don't be Hatin'!
The government's abandonment of any pretense of inhibiting consolidation occurred in the 1980's. No subsequent administration has shown any interest in restoring that duty. The Republicans may embrace this more readily than Democrats, but the Democrats have shown no appetite for preserving diversity and competition (see, for example, the debates over Dodd-Frank, which should have simply broken up the monster banks, and which took place largely amongst Democrats during their brief sojourn as the governing party).
If Exxon and Mobil can merge, any companies can merge.
Like them or not, they have major brand power and successfully control the entire supply chain - design, development, manufacturing, distribution, sale to the consumer. I really thought Mr. Guerra would be sporting a shiner today, but he carefully deflected the difficult, sensitive questions on high prices, complete control, bullying and hostile takeover of Oakley etc., and never once apologized for it - a tough feat.
The LC President looked like an unprepared baffoon. The piece was way too brief in my opinion and should have been in more depth and scrutiny.
One positive thing for indpendents at least came out of this - much easier to now justify why Ray-Bans are so damn expensive!
+1 That sums it up. Also, where is the outrage regarding the vertical integration of VSP and Marchon? Or VisionWorks, Viva, and Davis Vision?
At the end of the day I don't think the consumer really cares. They just want their RayBans at any price.
The one thing that I was a bit miffed over was the implication that the independent can't live without Lux product and that we are climbing over each other to get it. I thought the whole piece was a bit weak and quite sensationalist.
"Strictly speaking, there are no enlightened beings; only enlightened activity." -Shunryu Suzuki
I'm sure the government will catchup with them and their monopoly on the eyewear business. Just like they did to AT&T, when they had all the phone business and was forced to break up into smaller companies & offer more choice.
Interesting they also own EYEMED which wants all their customers going to "Their" providers! Target, LC, Pearle, etc. No wonder. Theres the monopoly! The insurance company & the eyewear companies!!
Too bad they didn't dedicate more time to this piece. Like so much product made in China, predatory practices, product exclusive to LC & SGH. Requiring independents to spend large levels to maintain an account with any particular designer etc, etc, etc. Not to mention more on Eyemed.
I doubt it. The AT&T breakup process was started in 1974, and ended in 1984. I can't recall another major anti-trust undertaking by the government. The anti-regulatory fever of the 1980's became confused with "government should let the market take care of everything". And so... Exxon/Mobil (not to mention the re-consolidation of six of the originally spun-off seven regional operating companies into two, now called AT&T and Verizon).
the Lc president is a baffoon......... Did they point out that it is also market driven? Many LUX frames in the UK/EU are much much cheaper because peopel are used to paying a lot less for them. The US/Canada and the northern EEC (Norway, Finland and such) are very expensive and have always been such. I bought a Toyota truck in 1989 for $10000 new, saw the same model new in Dar Es Sallam 18 months later for half that, same model, same manufaturing plant....... why? Because we will, and are used to, paying that much, and so....... Companies set prices in a market to what they can get, not worth or cost.....
I'm sure that you remember the FTC's action against American Optical in the sixties and the resulting consent decree which probably was the beginning of the end for both AO and B&L.
I'd say that it was actually the beginning of the end of the entire optical industry...which probably was the beginning of the end for both AO and B&L
Best regards,
Darryl
Darryl J. Meister, ABOM
Sorry, I was unclear; I meant "another major undertaking by the government since then". Prior to AT&T, there were plenty.
I saw it last night and believe me, I am not a fan of Luxottica. It does show how there is definately a monopoly going on in the eyecare industry, no news to us.
What I didn't like was how they were portraying them as being evil and greedy about it. Really how much does does it cost to make a nice pair shoes? Or a purse? Or a perfume? a watch? We can go on and on with this. People who want designer pay designer prices. I don't think Luxottica is the driving force at all. I think people are much more brand saavy and brand-concious than they have been in the past.
My wish had been for the opinion of the private practitioner.
It would depend on "which" private practitioner they got an opinion from. There are those among us that think they couldn't survive without designer names on their walls, just as there are practices that think they'd never survive without accepting ins. Some of us know it's possible to thrive without either.
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