About Us
Sightline started as a division of a 70-year old company which sold tens of thousands of eyeglass frames and old-fashioned reading glasses monthly to optical stores throughout the United States. In 2007, while in Milan Italy on a buying trip, I was introduced to a Frenchman who had just finished a lens design, and patented a process, to make a progressive reading glasses lens in volume.
Having never seen this before, and as a user of reading glasses, realized how superior these were to any other reading glasses I had ever tried. I could see the words on the page, my laptop, and across the table at my colleagues. So, I took a few thousand of our optical eyeglass frames, inserted the lenses, and started selling SightLine readers to our optical shop customers. We were first to market with a better mousetrap.
Turned out our optical shop customers (some quite large with dozens, even a hundred stores) did not want to retail an optical store quality ready-made progressive reader for around thirty to sixty dollars. They preferred to sell "occupational lens, office lenses, computer lenses and office progressives" in a frame at a cost of hundreds of dollars- and returned a big-fat profit. (Check out my take on profits in the eyeglass world in our blog.) So, in 2018 SightLine became an independent company focused on providing reading glass wearers a high-quality optical frame and progressive lens reader at a reasonable price. (Our closest competitors today sell similar quality readers for well over $100 even $200 per pair.) We were off to the races.
Today we use the same formula as we started with in 2007: We take an optical eyeglass frame, add SightLine progressive lenses, and ship them direct to you. No middle-man, no retail markup. You get a great pair of progressive readers, pay a fair price and get a six-month warranty. We through in free shipping and returns to boot and will kill with great customer service - the answer is yes to any reasonable request!
Fun Facts:
We have many post-cataract, and contact lens customers who were referred to us from their eye doctor... The ones who are not strictly profit motivated, because our product is superior and reasonably priced.
Sightline was first to market a progressive power multifocal reader in the USA- well before Foster Grant multifocus was introduced, and well before the market got flooded with cheap, poor performing, and potentially nauseating product that are very difficult to adjust to for most people.
Sightline designs all our readers in the USA and ships from the Chicago area.
Well over half our customers are repeat purchasers.
We hate advertising. We rather keep our prices lower by not paying for expensive on-line advertising like some of our competitors who charge way more money than us to cover their advertising costs. Some of our direct competitors spend more per pair of glasses to advertise, than they do on the actual glasses.
When I am not designing or shipping readers, you can find me out west skiing, under the water diving, at the track racing my spec Miata, or walking my dog - Pinto.
Sightline offers a complete satisfaction guarantee and free shipping both ways. Give Sightline a try and see for yourself why we have so many happy / repeat customers.
Sightline is the one pair you will always want to wear.
