According to a press release this morning, Luxottica has entered into an agreement to acquire Glasses.com from WellPoint, Inc. Although this isn’t  a domain name deal because Glasses.com is a full-fledged website and business, the Glasses.com domain name and branding is a great asset for this optical holding company to own. Terms of the deal, including the price, were not disclosed.
The Luxottica brand itself may not be entirely familiar to you, but I would imagine you know at least a few of the brands the company owns and operates. Lenscrafters, Pearle Vision, Ray-Ban, Oakley, and Oliver Peoples are just a few of the popular brands of glasses and retailers that are in the Luxottica corporate portfolio. Luxottica trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the LUX ticker symbol, and it is reportedly the largest eyewear company in the world.
Glasses.com has unique technology that Luxottica should be able to leverage. According to the press release:
“Glasses.com has proprietary virtual try-on technology. This technology, which uses a 3-dimensional image of the consumer’s face, allows the consumer to try on glasses with real likeness. The technology enables the customer to see the frame in detail from multiple angles. It also allows customers to send frame options to friends and family for their input and opinion, leveraging today’s social media tools. Use of the technology is available direct to customers via free iPhone and iPad apps.”
You can read more about this acquisition on Luxottica’s website.
Thank you to Andrea for sharing this news with me.
I can’t see anyone else owning this domain, little known secret just how powerful this company is, most people don’t know they make pretty much every eyeglass in the world.
“Too big to care” describes Luxottica, This company must rank dead last in customer service and satisfaction, don’t take my word for it, they have to have the most negative reviews of any eyeglass company in existence.. Found this out when I sent my Ray-Bans in for repair, the pair they kept for over 2 months and ended up losing.
It’s Maui Jim for me. 🙂