EssilorLuxottica's vertical monopoly inflates glasses prices by 1,000% while controlling insurance, retail, and manufacturing

EssilorLuxottica controls the entire eyewear value chain -- manufacturing frames that cost $10-$30 to produce and selling them for $250-$500+, while simultaneously owning the retail stores (LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, Pearle Vision, Target Optical), the insurance plan (EyeMed), and the brands (Ray-Ban, Oakley, Persol, Oliver Peoples, plus 20+ licensed brands including Prada, Chanel, Armani, and Burberry). Why it matters: consumers pay 1,000% markups on frames, so the average American spends $200-$600 per pair of glasses, so the 164 million Americans who wear corrective lenses face a cumulative cost burden of tens of billions annually, so low-income households forgo or delay corrective eyewear, so children and adults with uncorrected vision suffer in school performance, workplace productivity, and driving safety. The structural root cause is that EssilorLuxottica (EUR 26.5 billion in 2024 revenue) operates the only vertically integrated business model in eyewear, owning 600+ factories, 128 distribution centers, 13,500+ company-owned stores, and 4,100 franchise locations, which means no competitor can match their end-to-end control, and regulators have not intervened because eyewear is classified as a consumer product rather than a medical necessity subject to price controls.