"We're very optimistic about the luxury market," Luxury Optical Holdings' president Glenn Reisch told dba at the company's new Morgenthal Frederics store in New York City.

LAS VEGAS—After years of "right sizing" the business during a bad economy, Luxury Optical Holdings (LOH) is now poised for aggressive growth...and has already taken advantage of its position by recently adding new stores to its portfolio of high-end stores.

"We're very optimistic about the luxury market," Glenn Reisch, LOH president, told dba about the fact that not only has the company made some major acquisitions in the luxury optical space over the past couple of years but also plans to move aggressively toward more acquisitions in both new and existing markets, as well as opening new stores organically.

With 61 stores and counting (LOH will open its first Washington, D.C., Morgenthal Frederics store in the CityCenterDC luxury development by July), the company has grown dramatically over the past couple of years and intends to grow a lot more. In part, with increased capital made available this year for expansion by Chicago-based Monroe Capital LLC. LOH is a portfolio company of aPriori Capital Partners and Goode Partners.

Recent acquisitions include Leonard Opticians' one Los Angeles and two New York locations in September 2013, Opticians 3 in December 2013 in the Chestnut Hill suburb of Boston, and Specs Optical in Minneapolis in January 2014. In September of 2014, LOH also acquired both the wholesale and retail businesses of luxury eyewear company, Robert Marc Eyewear.

More recently, LOH acquired Riehle Opticians in Warwick, NY, during the same week that it moved its Morgenthal Frederics flagship store from 699 Madison Avenue down the street to 680 Madison Avenue, the first retail space to occupy the ground floor of New York City's historic Carlton House.

The situation was different when Reisch first joined LOH six years ago. The economy was bad and the company needed some stabilizing, so he focused on "right sizing" the existing business. In some cases, this meant closing some underperforming stores in addition to some "back of the house cleaning up."

The philosophy toward acquisitions was also somewhat different at the time. Back then, store names were changed following acquisition. For example, stores that had operated under various brands in Aspen, Chicago, Beverly Hills, and Bal Harbour, were renamed Morgenthal Frederics, thereby enabling that brand to extend to high-end retail areas outside of its home base of New York City. "The Morgenthal Frederics brand was always big in those stores," Reisch said, referring to that brand's eyewear line that had a high penetration of sales in those locations.


Morgenthal Frederics moved its flagship store to New York City's famed Carlton House.

LOH also has a strong presence in the Las Vegas market with its 17 locations operating under the Optica, Scene, and Davante brand names.

Today, many of the luxury optical stores that LOH acquires retain their existing names to maintain the strong presence they have established over the years in their markets. "We ensure that they're not going to lose what has made the store so special," Reisch said. "We keep what makes them successful and expand on it."

Keeping what's special refers to the people as much, if not more, as it does to the brand names and other aspects that have made these stores a success. "It's the people who are key," said Reisch, explaining that many customers come in looking for a specific staff member to whom they are loyal when purchasing glasses. "While it is necessary to have the right products, relationships and people make it a success," he said.

Reisch puts this philosophy into practice, retaining entire staffs when making acquisitions and providing them with "a voice" when converting the store into a member of the LOH family. "I love the stores we've acquired. I've gone to every one and met every employee," said Reisch, who explained how the employees who come on staff as a result of acquisitions are brought into the company. "We meet with the staff and tell them what we think is important, then they tell us what they think is important," he said. "There is a lot of collaboration so they have a voice."

When LOH acquired Riehle Opticians in Warwick, N.Y., it kept the name but moved to a newly renovated historic building.

"We keep what makes them successful and expand on it," LOH president Glenn Reisch said about its recent acquisitions, such as Riehle Opticians in Warwick, N.Y.

After so many acquisitions, the company has developed a process to bring a new company into the LOH group. In addition to training the staff, this also includes integrating the store into the company business model, centralized reporting to help establish store benchmarks, and establishing a relationship with the wholesale optical lab the company uses.

As the company has grown, last year LOH decided it was time to gather the increasing number of store managers together for conferences, one in Las Vegas and one in New York City. The meetings allow for training seminars and the sharing of best practices. The formula is working, and the company continues expanding in both existing markets such as New York and Las Vegas as well as in new markets such as Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.

Today, Luxury Optical Holdings continues its aggressive expansion in search of what Reisch calls the company's "sweet spot—luxury optical stores where we feel we can add value."