X-Cel Optical Co.
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[edit] General Information
X-Cel Optical
- Founded: 1937 by Elmer Voss and Vincent Condon
- Headquarters: Sauk Rapids, MN
- Employees:
- CEO: Joe Doescher
X-Cel Optical specializes in glass and hard-to-find specialty semi-finished lenses.
[edit] History
Founded in 1937 by Elmer Voss and Vincent Condon in Detroit, MI, X-Cel Optical Company moved to California in 1945 then to Sauk Rapids, MN in 1946 where its headquarters remain today.
The first Sauk Rapids X-Cel Optical location in was in the basement of the Sauk Rapids Movie Theater until it was destroyed by fire in 1957. It was then the first 5,000 square feet of the present fused plant was constructed. Four additions have been made since then to bring the plant to almost 40,000 square feet of space, devoted to fused lens production, plastic lens mold making, central stockroom and corporate offices.
In 1977, X-Cel built a separate 10,000 square foot plant behind the fused plant and began the production of plastic lens blanks. In 1979, another 10,000 square foot plant was built in the Sauk Rapids Industrial Park for the manufacture of glass Executive style lens blanks. In 1998, an additional 10,000 square feet was added to the plastic lens factory. X-Cel occupies 70,000 square feet of space in Sauk Rapids, with an additional stock office in Ohio.