Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
Glasses are expensive because there is no competition. One company - Luxottica - owns pretty much everything.You go to LensCrafters and prices seem super expensive, so you go to Pearle Vision and that's expensive too, so you go to Target Optical and prices are still high and then you think maybe glasses are expensive, since you went to multiple stores and they all have similar prices. What you don't realize is that all those retail brands are owned by the same company - Luxottica [1]. They operate under several names, so there is an appearance of competition but there isn't.But wait, it isn't just stores, they also own eyewear brands such as Ray-Ban, Chanel, Coach, Oakley, Prada, Tiffany, and so on. Yes, all of those brands are owned by Luxottica [2].Wait, not done yet. They also own insurance. Luxottica owns the vision insurance company EyeMed. [3]Still not done. Luxottica has merged with Essilor and now own multiple lens brands [4].See 60 Minutes story on Luxottica if you're not outraged yet [5].Where are the anti-trust enforcers in this country and other countries, and why are they not doing anything?[1] https://www.luxottica.com/en/retail-brands[2] https://www.luxottica.com/en/eyewear-brands[3] https://eyemed.com/en-us/about-us[4] https://www.essilorluxottica.com/brands[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDdq2rIqAlM