The company's name was also its phone number, and its whole pitch. Contact lens wearers used to buy refills from the eye doctor who wrote the prescription, often at a steep markup. 1-800 Contacts let them call a toll-free line in Utah, or later click a website, and get the same lenses shipped to the door for less. When it went public in February 1998, soft lenses were growing more popular every year among teenagers and young adults.

A Toll-Free Number in Utah

John Nichols started the business in March 1991. Jonathan Coon joined as president, and the two formed 1-800 Contacts as a Utah company in February 1995. They spent heavily on advertising to make the number stick in people's heads, then kept customers by making reorders easy. The bet was that lenses were a commodity, and that buyers would pick convenience and price over loyalty to their optometrist's front desk.

Sold, Then Sold Again

1-800 Contacts sold shares at $12.50 in February 1998 and listed on Nasdaq under CTAC. More and more of its orders moved to the web, and it became one of the larger online retailers of its era. In 2007 a group led by the private equity firm Fenway Partners bought the company for $24.25 a share in cash and took it private. It has changed private owners several times since then.

Cover: Closed Eyes, Odilon Redon. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for closed eyes (vision).