The Diversity You Need, The Values You Trust

Walman Optical® was founded in 1915 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by Mr. J.A.L. Walman. Mr. Walman was an optometrist, optician and jeweler a fairly common combination of trades in those days. Mr. Walman brought the attention to quality and detail seen in fine jewelry to the world of eyewear. His standards were extremely high, not tolerating even the slightest blemish in a lens or frame. He even modified jewelry tools for use with frames and lenses. This concern for quality and detail became the foundation for the success and growth of the company.

Since then, Walman has grown to become the largest independent ophthalmic company in the United States with 2008 total sales in excess of $200,000,000.00. While the company origin and headquarters are in Minnesota, Walman is now truly a national company with over 40 branch offices in 19 states. Best of all for all of us is that Walman is owned by the employees of the company through the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

The Ophthalmic Laboratory Divisions comprise the largest business units within Walman Optical, with annual sales of approaching 100,000,000.00. The ophthalmic industry follows the classical lines of distribution of manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. We, Walman, are placed at the wholesale level. More correctly, we would be classified as a "value-added wholesaler" or "manufacturing wholesaler" inasmuch we do process lenses from a "semi-finished" state as purchased from a manufacturer to a "finished" state for sale to our customer, a member of the "3 O's," Optometry, Opticianry, and Ophthalmology.

Walman Optical services these eye care professionals by supporting a number of diverse wholly-owned vision care business units. These various business units serve thousands of eye care professionals. These professionals, in turn, care for millions of consumers on a nationwide basis. That's the complex part of the story. The simple part follows; for Walman Optical is proudly built upon six core values.