10/21/2011 0 Comments

VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Coastal Contacts Inc. (TSX: COA) (Stockholm: COA), an online retailer of eyeglasses and contact lenses, has acquired website Justeyewear.com, which sells eyeglasses directly to consumers in the U.S. The company did not disclose the sale price.

“Justeyewear.com is a customer-focused online eyeglasses company that has gained great traction in the U.S. market during the past two years and has done a terrific job serving loyal customers,” said Coastal’s founder and CEO, Roger Hardy. “It really did stand out from the crowd because we kept seeing them in all the places we wanted to be. They’re technical, creative and very good for our U.S. expansion.”

Justeyewear.com CEO, Marc MacKenzie, sees the acquisition as a way to strengthen his brand. “We are aligning ourselves with the vision category leader,” he said. “We believe our customers will benefit from the many strengths Coastal brings, including marketing, logistics and world-class manufacturing.”

Founded in 2000, Coastal Contacts bills itself as “the world’s largest retailer of eyeglasses and contact lenses.” With a fiscal year that ends Oct. 31, Coastal Contacts reports that it served 620,000 customers in its last quarter with sales of $50 million, 90 percent through its website and 10 percent through its call center. It services customers in more than 150 countries through its family of websites, including Coastal.com, ClearlyContacts.ca, Lensway.com, Lensway.co.uk, Lensway.se, ClearlyContacts.com.au, ClearlyContacts.co.nz, Contactsan.com and Coastallens.com.

Unlike many discounted online optical stores that have their eyeglasses produced offshore, Coastal Contacts maintains its own facilities, one in Vancouver to service North America and one in Stockholm to service Europe, each with its own lab, call center and fulfillment operation. Each 50,000-square-foot warehouse stocks more than 2,000 different frame styles.

Regarding future expansion plans, Hardy told VMail, “We’re always on the lookout for companies that are doing a great job that would be beneficial for our shareholders.” When asked if the company has considered working with any brick-and-mortar eyecare professionals, he said, “We get approached all the time by young, forward-thinking ECPs, pretty much globally. It’s something we’re thinking about how to do, working with a few ECPs now and testing out how it might work. We’re looking forward to doing a few more tests.”

Last month, Coastal Contacts received the Vision Monday “Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way Award for the Most Daring Social Media or Web Presence,” part of Vision Monday’s 1st Annual Dispensing and Retail Excellence Awards (D.A.R.E.).

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