AC Lens is a

privately held company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

based in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

that sells

contact lens Contact lenses, or simply contacts, are thin lenses placed directly on the surface of the eyes. Contact lenses are ocular prosthetic devices used by over 150 million people worldwide, and they can be worn to correct vision or for cosmetic ...

es,

eyeglasses Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples or ...

and vision care products online.

Origin

Arlington Contact Lens Service, Inc (AC Lens) was formed in 1995 and launched in 1996 by Dr. Peter Clarkson in the back of an optometrist's office on the campus of

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in Columbus, OH. AC Lens incorporated in the State of Ohio in 1998. In 2000, AC Lens acquired I-Ohio LLC in an exchange of private stock. AC Lens now operates various websites including USA and United Kingdom based sites. Dr. Clarkson is a graduate of

Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

in the UK and the

Ohio State University College of Medicine The Ohio State University College of Medicine (formerly known as The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health) is the medical school at The Ohio State University and is located in Columbus, Ohio. The college is nationally re ...

. On February 4, 2004, the

Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act The Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (, codified at ''et seq.''), is a United States federal law that aims to improve consumer protection and ocular health for contact lens users. Provisions The Act gives consumers certain rights, in ...

went into effect. This federal law requires that optical care providers release their patients' prescriptions to them. AC Lens was provided the opportunity to comment and suggest changes to the FTC on March 31, 2004. The final ruling on the law was released by the FTC in July 2004. In October 2004, the FTC released a A Guide for Prescribes and Sellers.

Recognition

AC Lens has been named to the INC. 5000 and the Columbus Business First Fast 50. In May 2010, CEO Peter Clarkson was named a finalist for the

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...

Entrepreneur of the Year Award for south central Ohio and Kentucky. AC Lens recently earned the fifth consecutive Biz Rate circle of excellence award for outstanding customer service.

Merger with DiscountContacts.com

In April 2024, ACLens.com started redirecting to DiscountContacts.com, and users were met with a statement that ACLens.com is now a part of DiscountContacts.com. Both websites are owned by the same company, Arlington Lens Supply.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ac Lens Privately held companies based in Ohio Companies based in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area