The Barcelona vision brand PJ.Lobster continues to grow. The firm, founded by Óscar Valledor in 2018, expects to close 2024 with a turnover of 3 million euros, which is 60% more than the previous year. In addition to this increase in sales, the company has also achieved a positive EBITDA this year, becoming profitable from the second quarter of the year.
The company, which designs and manufactures glasses without intermediaries to streamline and reduce costs, has incorporated a differential service this year that has contributed to boosting its sales: a subscription model, which offers three pairs of glasses or contact lenses to its customers for a fixed monthly fee starting from 16 euros. The system allows changing glasses for other models after certain periods, and renewing lenses if the prescription changes, free of charge.
"This model has become the main growth engine of the company, and it is allowing us to establish stronger relationships with our customers," highlights Valledor. In fact, one out of four new customers of the firm chooses this service, which the company launched in June with SeQura as a technological partner.
This service "was born from a reflection process," and from the realization that people change glasses less often than they would like, either due to changes in prescription or for aesthetic and practical reasons. "The idea is to make vision products more flexible," in a model inspired by practices already carried out by other industries, such as the automotive and electronics sectors.
This subscription model, a pioneer in Southern Europe, has become "the bet for the coming years" for the Barcelona firm. Thus, 2025 will be a year for "the consolidation" of the system, its product catalog, its digital customer service, and the eight establishments the brand has: four in Barcelona —which account for 60% of the turnover—, two in Madrid, and one in Valencia and Zaragoza.
The company, which is not currently focusing on new openings but does not close doors to opportunities that may arise, is looking towards the international market, but for now, it is doing so cautiously: "For now, we will remain focused on Spain, but the idea is that in the future we can open up internationally".
"We don't know when, but we will go abroad," says Valledor, who started the company after a bad experience buying glasses shortly after finishing his studies in Business Administration and Management (ADE) at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). The company is now focused on consolidating its profitability so that it "increases month by month," and on continuing to "grow at double digits" with its vision proposals.