X-Cel Optical gobbled up by Big E

[Uilleann]

I just want his girl...Trillian....mmmmmmmm Still, he wasn't in it for anything other than the fame - just like your modern optician or lens company. ;) Essilor should be commended for their savvy business model which has allowed them consistent and impressive growth for decades. The reality is if it was Hoya, Zeiss, or even Joe Blow's super shack of fancy schmancy discount digital lenses who was closing all these acquisition deals, then Essilor would be seen as the good guy, and the boards here would have a completely different devil pariah to shun. It really is not about product quality or range of offerings - it's just that they're bigger than you. So throw fits every time another deal is signed (by E or anybody else) if you must..but they will keep on doing what they do. Quite happily.

[MakeOptics]

I remember being at SOLA when Essilor started buying up wholesale labs. At the time many of us believed that they were making a big mistake and that the other wholesale labs would see this as a threat and unite against them. The fact is that we were wrong - very wrong. Not only did wholesale labs not fight back, it soon became apparent that a large number of lab owners wanted that big check for themselves. This is America, and sadly in America money talks louder than anything else.

I have seen a similar trend amount independent optical retailers. The businesses that claim to be ABLE often have the most incentive to continue doing business with big E.

I don't understand how anyone can call themselves a professional and the completely deprive their clients of a large segment of lenses and products.

I openly use E products, in the past I boycotted them with a fury and it was 10 times harder for me to compete and independent labs always feed me lines as to why they couldn't match a price or term. I do business with whomever makes the back office procedure easier on me. I can charge and sell at any price point that is my comfort level. Taking hours to find old invoices and read over the details of our terms to ensure we are not nitpicked, who wants to make time for that. I am better utilizing my time in the business on the sales floor.

[sharpstick777]

The downside the the big conglomerates that are verticlely integrated is that although they are not a "monopoly" in the literal sense, they can control enough of the market so that I have less choice, and pay higher prices. They can make more margin at more points (not all, but more) in their supply chain.

As a consequence, their competition, though not normally inclined, begins to merge to offset the tremendous buying and market power. We are seeing that now with the Seiko and Hoya alliance.

Because these conglomerates have billions, it acts as a hinderance to market entry, and they get increasingly bigger pieces of a shrinking pie. In the end, they get more margin, and we get few choices for our patients.

It happened before when AO and B&L were found to be in collusion. This time Essilor, Luxottica and VSP are smarter, they will keep the paper trails free of collusion. They will only buy 50%, so that they don't set off the anti-trust alarms, But in the end, the result is the same. You have few lenses to dispense, with less info to dispense them, to patients that offer you less profit, because either the insurance company or the lens company controls more of the profits. ...and your future.