The Smart Choice

Profit strategies and products for the eye care professional

Pressroom & Awards

ABB CONCISE is the proud recipient of the Contact Lens Manufacturing Seal of Excellence eighteen years in a row. Awarded for our high degree of manufacturing expertise and professional achievement. We’ve been presented with the Emerging Company Award from the Association of Corporate Growth and are recognized by the South Florida Business Journal as Business of the Year.

Employee-driven ABB CONCISE is the largest contact lens distributor in the United States, serving more than 15,000 Eye Care Professionals and accounting for over 45 percent of soft contact lens distribution. No one ships more contacts every day like ABB CONCISE.

PRESS RELEASES

July 12, 2011 – ABB Concise endorses Optometry Giving Sight

June 23, 2011 – ABB CONCISE Announces a New Look to their Patient Reorder Website Yourlens.com

May 26, 2011 – ABB CONCISE Learns How to Apply Some “DISNEY MAGIC” in Their Approach to Quality Service and Brand Loyalty

January 23, 2011 – ABB CONCISE Announces the Retirement of Contact Lens Pioneer Dr. Robert Mandell

December 22, 2010 – ABB CONCISE To Release Second Edition Ophthalmic Lens Portfolio

November 30, 2010 – ABB CONCISE Launches "RX for the Holidays" To Support Optometry Giving Sight

October 27, 2010 – ABB CONCISE Acquires Soft Contact Lens Distribution Business of X-Cel Contacts

September 30, 2010 – ABB CONCISE's Price Monitor Helps Practices Price Their Contact Lenses

August 3, 2010 – PIO 2010 Preserving Independent Optometry Highly Successful PIO Program Offered in Florida

July 20, 2010 – ABB CONCISE Announces New ‘No Slip’ UltraClear AR Polycarbonate Aspheric Lens

June 30, 2010 – ABB CONCISE Announces Webinar Schedule

May 4, 2010 – ABB CONCISE Announces its Signature Line of GP Lenses

April 29, 2010 – ABB CONCISE Supports Optometry

January 27, 2010 – ABB CONCISE Releases Ophthalmic Lens Portfolio

December 29, 2009 – Soft Lens Business Reviews Help Practices Focus on Profits

Nov. 30, 2009 – ABB CONCISE Enhances Functionality of YourLens.com

November 23, 2009 – ABB CONCISE Awarded CLMA Seal of Excellence

May 5, 2009 – ABB CONCISE Receives Business Award

March 16, 2009 – ABB CONCISE Awarded CLMA Seal of Excellence

November 25, 2008 – Independent ECPs Raise Soft Lens Prices 1.3% during 2008

October 31, 2008 – Silicone Lens Sales Surpass HEMA Lenses

June 25, 2008 – ABB CONCISE Wins Business Award

Not yet a member of the ABB CONCISE team of Eye Care Professionals? Call 1-800-852-8089 toll free or Contact Us online.

ABB Concise endorses Optometry Giving Sight

ABB Concise endorses Optometry Giving Sight.

Golden, CO, July 12, 2011- ABB Concise has endorsed Optometry Giving Sight as its International Charity of Choice and will be recognized by the organization as a Gold National In Kind Sponsor.

ABB CONCISE is the nation’s largest distributor of soft contact lenses, supplying more than two-thirds of Eye Care Professionals in America with brand name contact lenses, high grade ophthalmics and fully customizable Gas Permeable Lenses.

“We are delighted to be recognized in this way for our support of Optometry Giving Sight,” said Founder and CEO, Angel Alvarez. “Not only do we support their efforts to raise funds for projects which train people in underserved communities to become degree qualified optometrists, but I am happy to say that “giving back” is very important to our employees”.

Mr. Alvarez said that his staff had already added Optometry Giving Sight to their employee giving program and that they would be raising funds as part of this year’s World Sight Day Company Challenge. ABB Concise will match their donations.

“It feels very good to know that management and staff share a common objective in wanting to help people who are needlessly blind or vision impaired,” he said. “We look forward to finding new and creative ways to raise funds to help Optometry Giving Sight.”

Dr. Mary Anne Murphy, Chair of Optometry Giving Sight congratulated ABB Concise saying: “It’s not surprising that the staff at ABB Concise rate the company as such a great place to work. Mr. Alvarez and his team have provided inspiring leadership in the area of corporate giving throughout the company and we are delighted to have entered into this partnership with them”.

Optometry Giving Sight® is the only global fundraising initiative that specifically targets the prevention of blindness and impaired vision due to uncorrected refractive error – simply the need for an eye examination and glasses.

To make a donation or to learn more about Optometry Giving Sight please visit www.givingsight.org or call 1-888-OGS-GIVE in the U.S. or 1-800-585-8265 ext. 4 in Canada.

ABB CONCISE Announces a New Look to their Patient Reorder Website Yourlens.com

ABB CONCISE yourlens.com website will now draw more patients to ABB CONCISE accounts yourlens.com powered webstores.

CORAL SPRINGS, FL - June 23, 2011 - In an effort to help to bring more patients to their accounts’ yourlens.com powered web stores, ABB CONCISE has changed the yourlens.com website to be filled with patient eyecare information and a new Doctor Locator search engine. Patients searching on the Internet for information about their eyecare needs will find yourlens.com. When they are ready to order, they will be able to access the large directory of local ECPs and links to their yourlens.com powered web stores.

ABB CONCISE’s yourlens.com contact lens reorder website provides ECPs a response to the industry’s ever growing online competition. ECPs that utilize yourlens.com can remain competitive by lowering their transaction costs and making it easier for their patients to obtain lenses. ABB CONCISE’s yourlens.com service provides its accounts with an Internet reorder functionality that is easy to graft onto existing practice web sites in a transparent manner. The service can also be used as a stand-alone Internet reorder site, enabling patients to order.

ABB CONCISE was able to enhance the website to allow more patient traffic by submitting all yourlens.com websites to local search engines Yahoo, Google and Bing to maximize the page rank potential of ABB CONCISE accounts’ websites and make it easy for patients living and working in the accounts’ zip code to find them via PC, GPS or mobile Internet device. Few competitors offer eye care professionals this value added market opportunity. Other free web store enhancements include:

Patient Enrollment — Enroll patients with Rx and date
Find a Doctor Feature — Patients in the area can find you
Exam Recall Reminders — No more time-consuming phone calls, recalls are sent automatically
Patient Activity Report — Track patient orders to find ways to upsell
AutoShip — Set patients up on automatic shipping based on compliance

New FREE upgrades to existing web stores include:

Personalized Template — Customize your website with original photos, graphics and ads<
Editorial Control — Make changes to your website in minutes with easy CMS tool
Rx Verification — Verify patient orders electronically
Patient Self Enrollment — Allow patients to sign up themselves
HTML / iframe capable — Coordinate the free web store with existing website

When Dr. Wayne Golden, O.D., opened his Sarasota, New York, practice, he immediately became an advocate of yourlens.com online ordering. "It’s convenient for the patient," he says, "and it saves the practice time and money." Now relying on yourlens.com to place nearly every order, Dr. Golden says he has increased his capture rate and improved customer retention significantly.

"The most exciting, newest feature is the Find A Doctor," Executive Vice President Lynda Baker says. This new doctor search will be available on both of our websites, the business to business site, abbconcise.com and yourlens.com. "When consumers find either websites and peruse the consumer-related links, they will use the Find a Doctor to locate an ABB CONCISE account in their area. That will drive more patients to our doctors' offices and their yourlens.com web stores."

About ABB CONCISE: ABB CONCISE is the largest U.S. contact lens distributor, serving over 15,000 independent eye care practitioners throughout the U.S. and accounting for over 40 percent of independents’ soft lens purchases through distributors. For additional information, visit www.abbconcise.com

ABB CONCISE Learns How to Apply Some “DISNEY MAGIC” in Their Approach to Quality Service and Brand Loyalty

ABB CONCISE management and sales teams attended Disney Institute programs to bring value to their accounts and satisfaction to their accounts’ patients.

CORAL SPRINGS, FL – May 26, 2011 – The ABB CONCISE management and sales teams recently returned from a three-and-a-half day program facilitated by the Disney Institute concentrating on quality service and brand loyalty. The theme of the National Conference was “Spot the Magic,” with a focus on applying successful business practices to create extraordinary value and exceed customer service expectations. The Disney Institute was created to showcase Disney’s best practices that easily adapt to other organizations. As one of the most recognized names in professional development, the Disney Institute teaches their brand of business excellence at locations across the U.S. and, to date, in more than 45 countries around the world.

Vice President of Sales Tim Aiken said that the sales team benefited most from “learning the importance of understanding the needs, perceptions and expectations of our customers to recognize how we can deliver appropriate benefits and deliver the most value. Disney builds trust and relationships with their guests by consistently exceeding service expectations, and ABB CONCISE can apply many of those same principles to consistently provide superior levels of service as well.”

Angel Alvarez, CEO of ABB CONCISE, believes strongly in investing in training programs that focus on exceeding customer expectations. “The Disney name is synonymous with quality service and brand loyalty. ABB CONCISE wants to learn from Disney’s innovative business strategies so we can in turn help our customers project their own value to their patients. We understand that you build your practice one patient at a time, and you are trusting us to deliver on our promises. If you lose a patient, we lose a patient.”

Another highlight from the national training conference was a practitioner panel of five optometrists that offered insight into the quality service and information that helps them stay competitive and bring value to their patients.

ABB CONCISE Announces the Retirement of Contact Lens Pioneer Dr. Robert Mandell

CORAL SPRINGS, FL – January 23, 2011 - Robert B. Mandell, OD, PhD, retired in January after a 37-year career as a consultant to ABB CONCISE. Dr. Mandell retired from his 32-year career as a member of the University of California, Berkeley faculty in 1998, but continued to work on research and development by providing consultative services to ABB CONCISE. At one time or another, he taught over half of the courses in the Berkeley Optometry program curriculum. Dr. Mandell, a prolific lecturer, educator and writer particularly well known for authoring the ubiquitous textbook Contact Lens Practice, is also a pioneer in contact lens design and manufacturing. He developed the first one-piece bifocal contact lens without image jump for ABB CONCISE more than thirty years ago. His innovations include R&D on standards for contact lens edges, minus lenticular designs, prism principles, toric designs and many other aspects of contact lens manufacturing.

ABB CONCISE Executive Vice President Lynda Baker says Dr. Mandell’s breadth of knowledge made him unique. “He understands every phase of contact lenses—from theory to clinical experience to manufacturing. Dr. Mandell’s expertise cannot be replaced, and he will be greatly missed as our consultant.” By the time he started consulting for ABB CONCISE, he had already established himself as a leading researcher on the cornea and contact lenses at UC Berkeley.

Dr. Mandell recalls that early in his career, the contact lens field was in its infancy. “There was a complete lack of standards,” he says, and he made an early impact on the profession campaigning for standardization in manufacturing. In 1968, Dr. Mandell became the chairman of the Standards Committee for the American Optometric Association. He performed many of the experiments upon which the standards were based. The first set of standards was accomplished and approved in 1970.

In 1975, Dr. Mandell’s work lead to a major breakthrough in contact lens manufacturing—and wearability. Prior to that time, contact lens laboratories routinely made their lenses extra thick, required to achieve a usable edge. “Unfortunately, the extra thickness made the lenses uncomfortable,” he says. Dr. Mandell learned of a newly developed desktop computer, which he realized could be adapted to calculate the specifications for contact lens manufacturing. Until this point, the manufacturers used charts and tables to arrive at their measurements. The computer program allowed him to design lenses of the practical minimum thickness and led to new lens designs such as the Pliaflex lens, a number of bifocals, aphakic lenses and other special lens designs. These lenses helped ABB CONCISE lead the contact lens industry in innovation and development.

Dr. Mandell’s enthusiasm for moving the industry forward continued unabated. In 1988, he and Carl Moore, former Con-Cise president, co-developed a guide to calculate bitoric contact lens powers. Their methodology became the standard and still is. Mandell/Moore bitoric calculation formula is available through ABB CONCISE and CLMA.

Dr. Mandell is the recipient of numerous awards, such as the AOA Contact Lens Section Korb Award in 2006. He was inducted into the Optometry Hall of Fame in 2001 and the University of California Optometry Hall of Fame in 2009. Dr. Mandell holds five contact lens patents. The GP lens offerings from ABB CONCISE continue to carry on the Mandell name with the MANDELL Seamless Multifocal ® GP lenses, developed by Dr. Robert Mandell. The lens features a front-surface, concentric design, with a unique transition zone that provides seamless, no-jump transition between optical zones. It’s ideal for patients who have specific distance and near requirements with minimal intermediate needs. Patients experience an easy transition from their single-vision lenses to this multifocal design.

ABB CONCISE To Release Second Edition Ophthalmic Lens Portfolio

Distributor offers range of ophthalmic lens products and services.

CORAL SPRINGS, FL - December 22, 2010 - Look for an updated Ophthalmic Lens Portfolio from ABB CONCISE to come in Q1 2011. Not only will it contain information on an expanded portfolio, but it also coincides with the ophthalmic lens division’s refocused core values, which will make it easier for independent practices to be competitive in today’s market. “In 2011, we will have innovative marketing programs to project the practice’s value to their patients.” says Michael J. Abbruzzese, senior vice president, marketing.

ABB CONCISE released their exclusive Ophthalmic Lens Portfolio earlier this year with enthusiastic interest from its accounts regarding the valuable content it provided. The Ophthalmic Lens Portfolio is a reference guide to the sizes, parameters and features available for a wide variety of ophthalmic lenses distributed by the company.

The portfolio includes lenses from well-known manufacturers, including best-in-class products from Essilor, KBCO, SOMO and Trivex. “It is important to have lenses for every budget. That’s why we offer a range of brand–recognized lenses from Essilor, as well as value lenses from SOMO,” Abbruzzese says. “Plus we carry extended ranges in some of our best-selling products.”

Abbruzzese says there’s a payoff across the board. By focusing on value and quality, ABB CONCISE accounts are doing more for their patients. “Anti-reflective treatment (AR) penetration among our accounts is 52 percent, substantially higher than the estimated 30 percent nationally,” he says.

“The Independent eye care practitioner wants to offer patients a convenient service, low prices and quality products,” Abbruzzese says. “ABB CONCISE wants to help by providing our accounts with the intuitively designed Ophthalmic Lens Portfolio.” The Ophthalmic Lens Portfolio is available to accounts through an ABB CONCISE sales representative or on www.abbconcise.com.

ABB CONCISE Launches "RX for the Holidays" To Support Optometry Giving Sight

Coral Springs, FL (Nov. 30, 2010) — ABB CONCISE has launched “RX for the Holidays,” a promotion to support Optometry Giving Sight, a global organization dedicated to the prevention of blindness and impaired vision due to uncorrected refractive error.

During December, in partnership with Paragon Vision Sciences, ABB CONCISE will donate a percentage of practitioner purchases of gas permeable lenses (GP) manufactured in Paragon material to Optometry Giving Sight. ABB CONCISE’s GP Signature Series line of lenses manufactured in Paragon material are available in standard, bifocal/multifocal, and irregular cornea designs.

ABB CONCISE and its practice development division Primary Eyecare Network (PEN) also support Optometry Giving Sight through its “Say Yes Today” campaign.

“We are actively engaging doctors in the ‘Say Yes Today’ campaign, which asks for a monthly contribution of $15 to Optometry Giving Sight,” said Juliana R. Vanoli, PEN’s project specialist in charge of charitable fundraising.

In the past 11 months, 41 PEN practices have contributed more than a total of $1,045 a month. Seven PEN practices contribute annually for a total of $1,700. Year- to-date contributions have exceeded $10,000.

PEN also encourages its practices to participate in Optometry Giving Sight’s annual World Sight Day Challenge. PEN staff participated in the 2010 Challenge by hosting a variety of in-office fundraisers during October. With those combined efforts, the PEN staff was able to donate nearly $800 to Optometry Giving Sight.

ABB CONCISE also promotes charitable giving of its workforce to The United Way, American Cancer Society and other local charities. So far in 2010 ABB CONCISE employees have donated more than $40,400 to charities.

ABB CONCISE is the largest U.S. contact lens distributor, serving more than 15,000 independent ECPs and accounting for over 40 percent of independents' soft lens purchases through distributors. To learn more, visit www.abbconcise.com

PEN provides a broad spectrum of programs and services for independent optometric practices, including educational programs, medical billing services, practice management and training guidebooks, compliance tools and office forms. For additional information, visit www.primaryeye.net.

ABB CONCISE Acquires SoftContactLens Distribution Business of X-Cel Contacts

X-Cel Contacts customers also get programs to help grow their business

Coral Springs, FL (October 27, 2010) — ABB CONCISE has acquired the soft contact lens distribution business of X-Cel Contacts, a Walman Company. In so doing, ABB CONCISE now offers X-Cel customers access to ABB CONCISE’s $38 million inventory of soft contact lenses. This means that X-Cel customers will experience an increased fill rate of products and receive their soft contact lenses faster.

“ABB CONCISE offers X-Cel customers an array of other services, including all manufacturers’ inventory, bank and patient direct discounts, on-line ordering for practices, competitive promotions and on-line ordering for patients to re-order lenses through ABB CONCISE’s Yourlens.com website tool,” said Lynda Baker, executive vice president of ABB CONCISE.

X-Cel soft contact lens customers will also have access to ABB CONCISE’s quarterly Soft Lens Retail Price Monitor to help them effectively price their entire soft contact lens product line, and ABB CONCISE’s quarterly magazine, Contact Lens Profit Advisor, which reports what independent eye care practitioners have done to increase their profits.

X-Cel will continue to service its customers with its manufacturing of custom soft and gas permeable contact lenses.

ABB CONCISE is the largest U.S. contact lens distributor, serving over 15,000 independent ECPs throughout the U.S. and accounting for over 40 percent of independents' soft lens purchases through distributors. For additional information, visit www.abbconcise.com

ABB CONCISE's Price Monitor Helps Practices Price Their Contact Lenses

Research establishes average pricing for independent offices and mass merchants

Coral Springs, FL (September 30, 2010) — ABB CONCISE’s quarterly Contact Lens Price Monitor, now in its fifth year, has become the industry standard to help eye care practitioners understand the dynamics of pricing soft contact lenses using annual supply discounts.

Every quarter ABB CONICSE surveys 200 randomly selected offices from its account base of over 15,000 to get average pricing of all major brands of soft contact lenses. With that information, it suggests prices for single-box, semi-annual supply and annual-supply of contact lenses. It also monitors the pricing of mass merchandisers and online merchants.

“It’s nice to know what the competition is doing. We want to be able to tell our patients honestly that our prices are competitive with the alternatives,” said Mark Boas, O.D., Exton, PA.

Mark Gendal, O.D., Coral Springs, FL, commented: “Pricing contact lenses is a complicated business. The practice purchases between $10,000 and $12,000 in contact lenses each month. Once prices were set, they tended to stay there.” Dr. Gendal found he often based his pricing on the low per-box prices he achieved through banks and other ABB CONCISE promotions. When he saw the average retail prices being charged, he realized he was too low in many cases.

PIO 2010 Preserving Independent Optometry Highly Successful PIO Program Offered in Florida

San Ramon, CA (August 3, 2010) – Primary Eyecare Network (PEN), the practice development division of ABB CONCISE, will present one of its highly acclaimed Preserving Independent Optometry (PIO) programs outside of California for the first time. Focused on achieving practice excellence by improving financials, staffing and marketing, PIO 2010 will take place at the Harbor Beach Marriott Resort & Spa in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on October 23-24, 2010.

PIO 2010, an MBA™ Program sponsored by CIBA Vision and Essilor Laboratories, will present proven strategies and tactics designed to improve the financial success of the optometric practice and at the same time enhance patient satisfaction.

The Management & Business Academy (MBA™) for Eye Care Professionals is a specialized education program designed to teach private practice ODs advanced business strategies and techniques to improve practice performance. Now in its sixth year, MBA has won the endorsement of the American Optometric Association. The highly praised MBA seminar, featuring prominent practice management experts, is being conducted in partnership with PEN and ABB CONCISE, with support from the MBA sponsors.

The seminar includes a customized, confidential report comparing the performance of participants’ individual practices with the practices of their colleagues. This in-depth report contains guidelines for interpreting performance benchmarks and improving efficiency and profitability.

To register or request program information, please call PEN at 800-444-9230 or visit PEN’s website at www.PrimaryEye.net.

ABB CONCISE Optical Group is dedicated to helping independent practitioners run their eyecare business more profitably. They offer convenient one-source ordering for an extensive selection of products, timely and accurate product delivery, and the largest inventory of soft lenses in the industry. Primary Eyecare Network is the leading provider of practice development solutions, serving Independent Optometrists for over 25 years. They support the success of Optometry through a broad spectrum of comprehensive programs, products and services from educational courses to medical billing services to guidebooks and office forms.

ABB CONCISE Announces New ‘No Slip’ UltraClear AR Polycarbonate Aspheric Lens

New UltraClear lens available in expanded parameter range

Coral Springs, FL (July 20, 2010) — ABB CONCISE has introduced the new UltraClear AR Polycarbonate Aspheric with Nano no-slip. It features no-slip coating for slip-free edging. The nano no-slip layer provides easy handling. After edging with a normal blocking pad, the lens can be cleaned with warm soapy water.

With the UltraClear AR Polycarbonate Aspheric with Nano no-slip, practices will save time and money by eliminating problems that come with slips during the edging process. The new lens, which can be used in any type of edging equipment, is available in an expanded range up to +6.00D to -8.00D and minus cylinders to -3.00D. These parameters cover virtually 95 percent of all single vision prescriptions.

The UltraClear AR Polycarbonate Aspheric with Nano no-slip lens features an aspheric design, making it the thinnest and most attractive polycarbonate lens with high-performance vision. “The ABB CONCISE sales team has been trained and is prepared with promotions and savings to help practices remain competitive and able to offer their patients this high-quality aspheric AR lenses at an affordable price,” said Mike Abbruzzese, ABB CONCISE’s senior vice president of marketing.

Exclusive promotional pricing is available for inventory orders by contacting an ABB CONCISE sales executive.

ABB CONCISE Announces Webinar Schedule

Monthly webinars focus on GP lens success

Coral Springs, FL (June 30, 2010) — ABB CONCISE has announced the schedule for the second half of 2010 of the free webinar series it cosponsors with Paragon Vision Sciences,

The companies’ Practice Partnership Education Series, begun in January, focuses on topics that support successful treatment options and outcomes. Patrick Caroline, FAAAO, of Pacific University, leads the webinars.

The webinars are scheduled for the third Wednesday of every month and will be held twice on those days at 6 p.m. Eastern standard time and Pacific standard time. To register, send an email to practicepartnership@abbconcise.com.

Topics for the remaining 2010 webinars are:

July 21 Management of the Astigmatic Patient with GP Lenses

Aug. 18 Patient Instruction and Contemporary GP Lens Care

Sept. 15 GP Problem Solving [Lens Design and Fitting]

Oct. 20 GP Problem Solving [Ocular Complications]

Nov. 17 Management of the Presbyope with GP Lenses

Dec. 15 Management of the Irregular Cornea with GP Lenses

“ABB CONCISE has manufactured contact lenses for 50 years and has always helped practitioners in the successful fitting of difficult GP prescriptions. Our webinars are just one more way to help with the fitting of GP lenses, including bitorics, multifocals and lenses for keratoconus patients,” said Lynda Baker, ABB CONCISE’s executive vice president.

ABB CONCISE Announces its Signature Line of GP Lenses

Also receives CLMA Seal of Excellence

Coral Springs, FL (May 4, 2010) — ABB CONCISE has released a new sales brochure for its Signature GP Lenses, including those with standard, multifocal and irregular corneal lens designs.

With more than 50 years of experience in manufacturing GP lenses and servicing GP eye care professionals, ABB CONCISE also announced that it has again received the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association “Seal of Excellence” Award.

The company’s Standard lens designs include the OxyFlow®, EdgeLift®, Pliaflex® and VerAconAspheric® designs. The new lens guide describes which design is most appropriate for individual patient characteristics.

Likewise, the guide does the same for ABB CONCISE’s multifocal lens designs, which include the Mandell Seamless™ multifocal, XRiVision™, Natural Vision™ bifocal and Versare™. All of these lenses can me made with Paragon materials.

The company’s irregular cornea lens designs include the cCone™, eCone™, Xcone™ and SurgilLens™.

ABB CONCISE offers its Guarantee Fit Program for exchanges and cancellation privileges.

ABB CONCISE is the largest U.S. contact lens distributor, serving over 15,000 eyecare practitioners throughout the U.S. and accounting for over 40 percent of soft lens purchases through authorized distributors.

ABB CONCISE Supports Optometry

Giving Sight and Other Charities

Coral Springs, FL (April 29, 2010) — ABB CONCISE supports Optometry Giving Sight, a global organization dedicated to the prevention of blindness and impaired vision due to uncorrected refractive error. ABB CONCISE also promotes charitable giving of its workforce to The United Way, American Cancer Society and other local charitable organizations.

ABB CONCISE supports Optometry Giving Sight in two ways. Most prominently is through Primary Eyecare Network (PEN), the practice development division of ABB CONCISE. In the past 10 months, 93 PEN practices have contributed more than a total of $2,400.00 a month. At PEN’s March Preserving Independent Optometry (PIO) meeting, 27 additional practices signed up to make regular contributions to Optometry Giving Sight and still more PEN practices are contributing on an annual pledge basis.

“We are actively engaging doctors in the “Say Yes Today” campaign which asks for a recurring contribution of $15/month to Optometry Giving Sight,” said Juliana R. Vanoli, PEN’s project specialist in charge of charitable fundraising for Optometry Giving Sight.

In addition, ABB CONCISE promotes giving back to communities by committing resources to local and national charitable organizations, including the American Cancer Society and The United Way. All employees are given four paid hours each year to volunteer their time to a charitable organization of their choice. They can further support their interest and passion through payroll deductions. ABB CONCISE matches employee donations dollar for dollar to Optometry Giving Sight, American Cancer Society and The United Way. Thus, for every $1 donated by an employee, $2 goes to the designated charitable organization.

Back to top

ABB CONCISE Releases Ophthalmic Lens Portfolio
Distributor takes guesswork out of ordering spectacle lenses

Coral Springs, FL (January 27, 2010) — ABB CONCISE intends to do for practitioners consolidating orders for ophthalmic lenses what it already has done with contact lenses – offer savings and efficiency. Its just released Ophthalmic Lens Portfolio does just that. It’s a reference guide to the sizes, parameters, features and best price available for the wide variety of ophthalmic lenses distributed by the company.

“The Ophthalmic Lens Portfolio is designed to take the guesswork out of ordering ophthalmic lenses,” says Michael J. Abbruzzese, senior vice president, marketing. “It helps you easily identify your lens of choice and increases your effectiveness of ordering. You can order ophthalmic lenses with your contact lenses to increase office efficiency and to reduce shipping costs—especially when ordered online,” he adds.

The portfolio includes lenses from well-known manufacturers, including best-in-class products from Essilor, KBCO, SOMO and Trivex. “Our product offering is based on Essilor’s brand awareness and SOMO’s affordable products and was designed to increase your profits and keep you competitive in today’s changing marketplace,” Abbruzzzese says.

The Ophthalmic Lens Portfolio also reports on usage and trends. For example, based on purchases by its customers, ABB CONCISE reports an upward trend in the purchase of polycarbonate lens materials, now at 61%. In the "coating" category, it reports 53% of its purchases include AR, 19% photochromic and 29% hard coat.

ABB CONCISE is the largest U.S. contact lens distributor, serving over 15,000 independent eye care practitioners throughout the U.S. and accounting for over 40 percent of independents' soft lens purchases through distributors. For additional information, visit www.abbconcise.com.

Soft Lens Business Reviews Help Practices Focus on Profits

Coral Springs, FL (December 29, 2009) — Would your practice benefit from a quarterly review of its contact lens business, complete with charts and graphs that shows lens usage, profitability and industry benchmarks?

Begun earlier this year, hundreds of practices around the country already have taken advantage of ABB CONCISE’s “Soft Contact Lens Business Review.” It’s a free service performed by ABB CONCISE consultants.

Mark B. Boas, O.D., M.S., and Suzanne O. Boas, O.D., Exton, PA, say the business analysis is a valuable tool that “we wouldn’t necessarily take the time to produce for ourselves.” Drs. Boas’s practice was profiled in a recent issue of Contact Lens Profit Advisor, a quarterly 12-page magazine of ABB CONCISE.

The ABB CONCISE business review provides data that helps the practice gauge where it falls in relation to other accounts around the country. For example, based on benchmark data from its top 500 accounts, Drs. Boas come in above average on many key indicators, a confirmation for them that they have a solid business plan.

Drs. Boas also use another ABB CONCISE business tool to help them set their contact lens retail pricing. Soft Lens Retail Price Monitor, which ABB CONCISE started publishing in 2006, tells Drs. Boas what the competition is doing. “We want to be able to tell our patients honesty that our prices are competitive with the alternatives – and thanks to the Soft Lens Retail Price Monitor, we can,” says Dr. Mark Boas.

ABB CONCISE is the largest U.S. contact lens distributor, serving over 15,000 independent ECPs throughout the U.S. and accounting for over 40 percent of independents' soft lens purchases through distributors. For additional information, visit www.abbconcise.com.

Back to top

ABB CONCISE Enhances Functionality of YourLens.com
E-commerce solution allows patients to buy from a practice online

Coral Springs, FL (Nov. 30, 2009) — ABB CONCISE has enhanced the functionality of its online contact lens ordering service, YourLens.com, which is utilized by 2,248 practices.

YourLens.com now offers practices enhanced retail pricing functionality that can increase revenue by maximizing tiered pricing and other discounts. “Adopting a tier pricing structure and using pricing guidelines from ABB CONCISE’s Retail Price Monitor should enable most accounts to achieve a two percentage point increase in gross profit from soft lens sales. That would mean an additional $1,600 to $2,400 per practice, depending on its size,” said Kevin Dickman, the company’s E-Commerce Solutions Supervisor.

“Customers with Yourlens.com-powered web stores can now offer their patients semi-annual contact lens pricing and a special column just for our new ‘auto ship’ functionality. Also new are pricing tiers that allow our customers to design competitively priced promotions for their loyal patients. To make these changes easier for our customers, we also introduced a price import/export function that allows our customers to download and work on tier pricing using a .csv file at their leisure and then upload it back to the web site,” said Dickman.

ABB Concise also has introduced newly designed menus and grids to provide the best possible experience for navigating through the enhanced retail pricing area via www.abbconcise.com.
For patients, “auto ship” and the new pricing flexibility mean patients can choose their preferred shipping method and shipping intervals. “Patients can manage their own subscription 24/7, change their credit card and shipping address at will via the Internet,” said Dickman.

“The convenience of Yourlens.com is valued by patients and results in improved patient retention,” said Dickman. “Yourlens.com also reduces staff time in ordering lenses.”

ABB CONCISE is the largest U.S. contact lens distributor, serving over 15,000 independent ECPs throughout the U.S. and accounting for over 40 percent of independents' soft lens purchases through distributors. For additional information, visit www.abbconcise.com.

Back to top

ABB CONCISE Awarded CLMA Seal of Excellence

Coral Springs, FL (November 23, 2009) – For the eighteenth consecutive year, ABB CONCISE has received the Contact Lens Manufacturer Association's (CLMA) Seal of Excellence, recognizing the quality and consistency of ABB CONCISE gas permeable lenses.

CLMA awards its Seal of Excellence only to those labs whose lenses meet or exceed ANSI 280.20 standards, as verified by an independent testing laboratory. The current award is for the 2010-2012 period.

The CLMA Certificate of Manufacturing Excellence is a prestigious achievement award and signifies a high degree of manufacturing expertise needed to meet a demanding level of inspection. It also recognizes a manufacturer’s ability to produce high quality contact lenses that meet or exceed applicable industry standards. ABB CONCISE has been in the manufacturing business for over 50 years and is well known for its innovation and expertise in new designs and fitting techniques. ABB CONCISE has achieved this CLMA award every year since the beginning of testing.

ABB CONCISE offers a full range of custom-designed gas permeable lenses, shipping most prescriptions within 24 hours of order receipt. ABB CONCISE has many exclusive designs for spherical, aspheric, multifocal and irregular corneas. Visit www.abbconcise.com for more information on ABB CONCISE’s extensive GP line.

ABB CONCISE is the largest U.S. contact lens distributor, serving over 15,000 independent ECPs throughout the U.S. and accounting for over 40 percent of independents' soft lens purchases through distributors.

ABB CONCISE Receives Business Award

Coral Springs, FL (May 5, 2009) — ABB CONCISE received last week the 2009 Business of the Year Award from the South Florida Business Journal. With more than 400 employees in three states – Florida, California and Massachusetts – ABB CONCISE was cited for its sustained growth, profitability, strong internal culture and community service. The Business of the Year Awards was created to recognize excellence and outstanding performance in the business community.

"This award recognizes the can-do attitude of the great people in our organization, who have enabled us to succeed even in a very difficult economic climate," said Angel Alvarez, ABB CONCISE CEO.

Headquartered here, the company contributes to South Florida charities and philanthropies, including Boys and Girls Club, American Cancer Society, Teen Dream Camp and Toys for Tots. Alvarez is a board member of the United Way of Broward County and the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

ABB CONCISE is the largest U.S. contact lens distributor, serving over 15,000 independent ECPs throughout the U.S. and accounting for over 40 percent of independents' soft lens purchases through distributors. For additional information, visit www.abbconcise.com.

Click here to download the PDF file.

Back to top

ABB CONCISE Awarded CLMA Seal of Excellence

Coral Springs, FL (March 16, 2009) — ABB CONCISE has received the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association's Seal of Excellence Award for 2009-2010, extending to 16 consecutive years in which ABB CONCISE has received this award. The award recognizes excellence in quality and expertise in the manufacturing of Gas Permeable contact lenses produced at its Massachusetts and California labs.

CLMA awards its Seal of Excellence every two years to manufacturers that meet or exceed ANSI 280.20 standards, as verified by an independent testing laboratory.

ABB CONCISE is the largest contact lens distributor in the U.S., serving more than 15,000 independent eye care professionals nationwide. For additional information about the company's extensive line of gas permeable lenses, visit www.abbconcise.com.

Independent ECPs Raise Soft Lens Prices 1.3% during 2008

Coral Springs, FL (November 25, 2008) Independent ECPs raised retail prices of 20 leading soft contact lens brands a weighted average of 1.3% during 2008, according to just released data from ABB CONCISE’s Soft Lens Retail Price Monitor.

Of the 20 brands included in the analysis, average ECP pricing rose for 18 brands during 2008, while pricing decreased for two brands. Average prices rose 1% for brands in each major lens segment.

The estimates are derived from ABB CONCISE's quarterly audit of independent ECP retail pricing. Average prices reported are the average of the four quarterly audits in 2007 and 2008. The pricing of more than 450 practices is used to calculate the averages for each year. Brands included in the composite average are those that were audited in each of the eight quarters over the past two years. These brands account for approximately 76% of wholesale sales of frequent replacement contact lenses.

"The soft lens retail price increases implemented by independents in 2008 were taken in a climate of relative stability in wholesale pricing, suggesting that profit margins may have improved modestly in 2008," said Angel Alvarez, ABB CONCISE CEO.

As independents raised prices on 90% of the audited brands included in the analysis in 2008, 1-800-Contacts increased prices on just two of the brands. The 1-800-Contacts pricing comparison is based on the mail order/Internet company's pricing in the fourth quarter of each year.

Weighted Average Retail Price per Box

	2007	2008	% Change
Total soft Lenses (20)	$42.84	$43.40	+1.3%
Spheres (9)	$40.59	$41.46	+1.4%
Torics (5)	$48.91	$49.40	+1.0%
Colors (3)	$41.30	$41.88	+1.4%
Multi-Focals (3)	$55.68	$56.40	+1.3%

Note: Numbers in parentheses are the number of brands included in the calculation of average pricing.

ABB CONCISE has the largest sales force among contact lens distributors, serving over 14,000 accounts nationwide. The company estimates that its market share among soft lens distributors is 45 percent, which is equivalent to 30 percent of all soft contact lenses purchased by independent ECPs.

ABB CONCISE serves ECPs from its three regional distribution centers in California, Massachusetts and Florida, offering next-day or two-day delivery in many regions.

Silicone Lens Sales Surpass HEMA Lenses

Coral Springs, FL (October 31, 2008) For the first time ever, sales of silicone hydrogel contact lenses have surpassed those of traditional HEMA-based contact lenses, according to ABB CONCISE, the largest soft contact lens distributor.

For the third quarter 2008, sales of silicone hydrogel contact lenses accounted for 50.3 percent of the frequent replacement soft contact lens revenue of the distributor. During the third quarter 2007, silicone hydrogel contact lenses accounted for 45.0 percent of sales.

"With the continued introduction of new silicone hydrogel materials and designs, we anticipate the new category will totally dominate the market in the years ahead," said Angel Alvarez, ABB CONCISE’s CEO.

During the third quarter 2008 silicone hydrogel contact lenses accounted for 70.8 percent of spherical contact lens sales, 50.5 percent of toric contact lens sales and 22.8 percent of multi-focal contact lens volume.

"Upgrading patients to silicone hydrogels not only has important clinical benefits, but ECPs enjoy higher revenue and gross profit per box from dispensing them. Based on our on-going monitoring of independent ECP retail pricing, we estimate that practices produce 18 percent higher revenue and five percent higher gross profit per box from silicone hydrogel lenses," Alvarez said.

ABB CONCISE has the largest sales force among contact lens distributors, serving over 14,000 accounts nationwide. The company estimates that its market share among soft lens distributors is 45 percent, which is equivalent to 30 percent of all soft contact lenses purchased by independent ECPs.

ABB CONCISE serves ECPs from its three regional distribution centers in California, Massachusetts and Florida, offering next-day or two-day delivery in many regions.

Back to top

ABB CONCISE Wins Business Award

Coral Springs, FL (June 25, 2008) ABB CONCISE has received the 2007-2008 “Emerging Company Award” from the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), South Florida Chapter.
Since 1985, the ACG “Emerging Company Award “has been presented to the company with annual sales of less than $500 million that has demonstrated outstanding growth for the previous three years.

According to the ACG, which presented the award on June 12 at a reception in Hollywood, FL, “ABB CONCISE is one of the most dynamic growth organizations in the vision care industry today. With over $300 million in sales, ABB CONCISE is one of the fastest growing private companies in South Florida.”

"We look for another strong year of growth in the contact lens sales by independent ECPs during 2008 as we help them level the playing field with the big box retailers and Internet companies," said Angel Alvarez., ABB CONCISE’s CEO.

ABB CONCISE has the largest sales force among contact lens distributors, serving over 14,000 accounts nationwide. The company estimates that its market share among soft lens distributors is 45%, which is equivalent to 30% of all soft lenses purchased by independent ECPs.

ABB CONCISE serves ECPs from its three regional distribution centers in California, Massachusetts and Florida, offering next day or two-day delivery in many regions.

Back to top

Interested in more success stories or joining the ABB CONCISE family of Eye Care Professionals nationwide? Call Customer Service at 1-800-852-8089

Quick Links