How it started
History
In 1986 a business administration and finance student of University of Florida, Engin Yesil and his friend Yalie Golan started Lens Express from their Fort Lauderdale apartment. Engin was to have returned to Turkey to manage his father's shoe business, but saw a greater venture in Florida. Unlike other states, Florida provided a better opportunity for growth while still operating within state rules and regulations. This became important since Lens Express, as a company, was breaking ground for consumerism.
In the 1980s the world of contact lens usage was exploding due to the growth of the soft contact lens market. However, access to contact lenses as a product was restricted as it was unsafe for people to purchase products from anyone other than the eye doctor.
On April 2, 1985, WCBS-TV, New York Consumer Editor Betsy Ashton, interviewed by Meredith Vieira, reported on the optometric industry's battle against mail-order contact lens firms. Representing the American Optometric Association, Dr. Paul Farkas argued that mail order contact lenses were unsafe. Conversely, USA Lens founder Dr. Joseph Seriani extolled the virtues of his firm while arguing that many eye doctors' services were superfluous for otherwise healthy patients. The report also mentioned that certain states, including Hawaii, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Minnesota had restraint of trade laws in effect to prevent advertising for contact lenses.
From Wikipedia’s article on Lens Express, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2