MILAN – Carlo Privitera has been named by Luxotttica (NYSE: LUX) to head its Glasses.com business. The company acquired the assets of Glasses.com from WellPoint, Inc., earlier this year, when WellPoint spun off its 1-800 CONTACTS operation to Thomas H. Lee, as VMail reported.

Most recently chief operating officer over Luxottica’s North American Retail Business Services, Privitera is leaving Luxottica Retail to fully transfer to his new role now that Luxottica has completed the Glasses.com transaction, as reported. Privitera will report directly to Luxottica’s CEO, Andrea Guerra, in his new role. The current management team of Glasses.com, including John Graham, general manager, will stay with the business, a Luxottica spokesperson told VMail, noting, however, that it was previously announced that the 1-800/Glasses.com founder, Jonathan Coon, is retiring from the company with the sale of the business.

Glasses.com will maintain its market positioning and will stay as a freestanding online eyewear site and digital platform, independent from Luxottica’s other e-commerce and online initiatives, the spokesperson also told VMail. Privitera will be based in New York.

Privitera joined Luxottica in 2005, starting as the head of industrial supply chain, subsequently being named chief information officer. For the last three years, he has led the North America Retail Business Services, comprised of asset protection, central planning, corporate communications and internal media, human resources, logistics, real estate and strategic environments, the company said.

Luxottica also reiterated that it intends to make the Glasses.com technology, including its 3-D virtual try-on system, “available to the eyewear industry and sector in North America as a whole, including independent practitioners. Luxottica believes that the investment in technology is key to grow the sector, the industry and most of all to improve the experience and the service offered to clients and to consumers. The acquisition of Glasses.com will serve as a booster to develop and evolve the category in partnership with all players in the market and independent practitioners will have a key role into this process and evolution. We are currently just at the start of the project so we will be able to provide more details and information about this evolution in the near future.”