Making A Difference

In 1983, three young entrepreneurs set out to create a new eyewear company with a $2 million loan and a passion to succeed. Twenty-five years later, the company they called Marchon was one of the largest and most innovative eyewear suppliers in the world, a fact which led to its sale to the top vision insurance firm for $735 million. In this memoir, Marchon's former CEO and one of its founders, the late Al Berg, tells his unique story and the story of world class fashion eyewear products, ground-breaking marketing campaigns, and a drive to take the Marchon concept global. AL BERG was a founder and CEO of Marchon Eyewear until the sale of the company to VSP Global in August, 2008. He was a preeminent figure in the optical industry and served as vice president for the Vision Council, an industry trade association. He received a B.A. from Syracuse University's Whitman School of Management, to which he endowed an Entrepreneurship Chair, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Al was very active in philanthropy and provided decades of strategic leadership and support to the UJA Federation of New York, serving as Centennial Campaign Chair, Executive Board Member past Long Island Chair and special advisor to the UJA President. After a two-year struggle, he succumbed to cancer on March 11, 2019 at his Long Island home in the company of his wife, son and daughter. He was 67.