Luxottica owns not only a large portfolio of brands (over a dozen
[43]) such as
Ray-Ban and
Oakley but also retailers such as
Sunglass Hut and
Oliver Peoples, the optical departments at
Target and
Sears, as well as key eye insurance groups including the second largest glasses insurance firm in the US. It has been accused of operating a complete monopoly on the optical industry and overcharging for its products—for example, temporarily dropping competitor Oakley from its frame design list, then, when the company stock crashed, purchasing the company, then increasing the prices of its Ray-Ban sunglasses. In addition, it has been argued that, by owning the vision insurance company EyeMed, it also controls part of the buyers' market as well.
[41]