Costa
Costa Del Mar was founded in 1983 by Ray Ferguson in Daytona Beach. By 1986, it was the official gear of the Stars & Stripes team in America's Cup yacht racing contest and quickly became popular among surfers and recreational fishermen due to its sun glare protection. The brand made an appearance in the 1987 video game California Games as one of the sponsors.
The brand was acquired by Essilor in 2013 for approximately $270 million.
In 2017, Costa partnered with NASCAR driver Austin Dillon to create a limited quantity of special edition sunglasses. Dillon won the 2018 Daytona 500.
In August 2017, a new vice-president of marketing by the name of TJ McMeniman was nominated.
The company was involved in a series of lawsuits for "deceptive trade practices". These lawsuits were based on the warranty, which claimed that glasses would either be replaced or repaired for "a nominal fee". The class action lawsuit alleged that the "nominal fee" was just shy of the actual price of a new pair of glasses.
In August 2019 the CEO, Holly Rush, was let go and all department heads report directly to Luxottica. In December 2019, it was announced that operations in Daytona Beach would cease by February 7, 2020 and the rest of the layoffs would be complete by September 2020. Most of the production of sunglasses will be manufactured at Luxottica's plant in Foothill Ranch, California.
