SIC 5048 Ophthalmic Goods

SIC 5048

This category covers establishments primarily engaged in the wholesale distribution of professional equipment and goods used, prescribed, or sold by ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians, including ophthalmic frames, lenses, sunglass lenses, contact lenses, and optometric equipment and supplies.

NAICS CODE(S)

423460

Ophthalmic Goods Wholesalers

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were a total of 1,317 establishments operating within this industry in 2004 with about 25,246 employees and an annual payroll of about $920 million. A majority of companies in this business were small, with about 71 percent employing less than 20 workers. The U.S. Census Bureau reported in 2002 that of the then 1,397 establishments, California led all states with 239 companies and $1.1 billion in sales while about one-third of companies posted sales between $500,000 and $2.5 million.

The industry is divided into five segments: ophthalmic goods; contact lenses; frames, ophthalmic; lenses, ophthalmic; and optometric equipment and supplies. According to Dun & Bradstreet's 2006 sales figures, ophthalmic frames represented by far the largest segment with nearly $3.3 billion of the industry's $4.1 billion annual sales. Though the industry's employment figures have remained relatively stable in the 2000s (a negligible 3 percent drop between 2002 and 2004 occurred), the larger professional and commercial equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers has experienced gains. According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the larger industry expanded by 54,000 employees between 1994 and 2004 from 589,000 to 643,000 workers with further growth of about 14 percent projected between 2004 and 2014.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

Some historians believe eyeglasses originated in Europe during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Others attribute them to China, claiming Marco Polo introduced them to Europeans. Following the invention of Gutenberg's press and the ensuing availability of printed material, demand soared.

The subsequently common frame form, with side arms, called temples, fitting over the ears, was introduced in 1746. Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals in 1752. Contact lenses were first offered in 1888. Other major innovations include the 1959 development of variable strength corrective lenses, and the...