1-800 Contacts
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Contact lens retail |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Founder | Jonathan C. Coon |
| Headquarters | Draper, Utah |
|
Key people
|
Brian Bethers, CEO Rob Hunter, CFO Cindy Williams, General Counsel |
| Products | Contact lenses |
| Revenue | $237 million (2005) |
| $5.7 million (2005) | |
| $2.6 million (2005) | |
| Owners |
AEA Investors Thomas H. Lee Partners |
| Website | www |
1-800 Contacts Inc. is an American contact lens retailer based in Draper, Utah. The brands that 1-800-Contacts uses includes Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Ciba Vision, Bausch & Lomb and CooperVision. In 2006, its last year as a public company, the company reported net sales of US$247 million.
1-800 Contacts was founded in 1995 by Jonathan C. Coon and John F. Nichols, and was incorporated in February that year. The company held an IPO in 1998 on NASDAQ with the symbol CTAC with an offer price of $27.5M and share price of $12.50. They acquired Lens Express in 2002.
Over the years, 1-800-CONTACTS has been owned by several companies. In June 2007, 1-800-CONTACTS was acquired by Fenway Partners for $24.25 per share. In June 2012, 1-800-Contacts was sold to The Insurance Company WellPoint. In 2013 Wellpoint sold 1-800-Contacts to Thomas H. Lee Partners and glasses.com to Luxottica.AEA Investors acquired a majority interest in 1-800 Contacts in December 2015.
In 2008, 1-800 CONTACTS entered into a partnership with Walmart, which ended in 2013. In June 2013, 1-800-CONTACTS launched glasses.com, a domain which the company has held since 1999.
By using a toll-free number as its brand, a consumer can recognize the product, be directed to call for a purchase, and buy a product within minutes. It was hoped that consumers would more easily remember the company's phone number, and thus be more likely to become repeat customers. 1800Contacts.com is also a domain name owned by the company in which a customer may order online. The combined toll-free number and matching domain is called a "Toll-Free Domain" or a "Teledotcom".
1-800 CONTACTS sued WhenU over pop-up advertisements in 2002. In the suit against WhenU, which also named Vision Direct as a co-defendant, 1-800 CONTACTS alleged that the advertisements provided by WhenU, which advertised competitors of 1-800 CONTACTS (such as Vision Direct) when people viewed the company's web site, as "inherently deceptive" and one that "misleads users into falsely believing the pop-up advertisements supplied by WhenU.com are in actuality advertisements authorized by and originating with the underlying Web site".
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Wikipedia