Roger Hardy, who built Coastal Contacts Inc. into the largest online eye care retailer in the United States before selling it for $430 million in April, is investing much of his fortune trying to repeat his e-tailing success with footwear.



His company, Hardy Capital Partners announced last week that it had partnered with a small group of Canadian investors to acquire OnlineShoes.com, a profitable, $140 million-a-year Seattle retailer. Hardy Capital also disclosed that it has acquired 100 percent of ShoeMe.ca, a Vancouver-based online footwear retailer for an undisclosed sum.

 

 

Hardy plans to consolidate the two companies and create the largest online footwear operation headquartered in Canada. The combined entity will sell 1.5 million pairs of shoes a year, have combined annual revenues of approximately $200 million and offer a selection of more than 35,000 shoes from 350 brands as well as apparel, bags and accessories.
Hardy will run the company as chairman and CEO. Sean Clark, founder of ShoeMe.ca and a former employee of Coastal Contacts Inc., will remain president of Canadian operations while a 100-day consolidation plan is rolled out.


“The footwear category in North America is estimated at more than $50 billion and there are large segments of the population being grossly underserved,” said Hardy. “We are determined to redefine the shopping experience for North American consumers while delivering the savings and convenience they've come to expect from other online categories.”


 

That may seem like a stretch given the dominant position of Zappos.com in the footwear space, but OnlineShoes.com already enjoys a reputation for top-notch customer service. In a 2010 survey by StellaService, online shoppers ranked OnlineShoes.com 13th for customer service after EBags.com and before Orvis.com and Netflix.com.  Zappos.com ranked 1st in the survey, L.L.Bean.com 7th and REI.com 11th. Today, Onlineshoes.com offers free shipping, free exchanges, 365-day returns and a “110% Price Guarantee.”
 

Hardy, meanwhile, is no slouch when it comes to e-commerce. He took founded Coastal Contacts Inc. in 2000 and took it to $219 million in sales in 13 years, proving in the process that even contact lenses and prescription eyeglasses could be sold online. In April, he sold the company for $430 million to the French eyewear company Essilor, which will use Coastal.com as its primary e-commerce platform in the United States, where it also recently acquired the Costa and Native eyewear brands.

 

 

“Roger's experience and expertise in disrupting retail industries through e-commerce is unprecedented,” said Clark. “We are elated to have him at the helm of our expanded operation and look forward to maximizing the resources of both entities to offer a premium level of service to our customer base across North America.”