All Article articles – Page 103
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Italia Independent rises by 42.5% in the first half
Italia Independent maintained its high growth rate in the first half, posting a 42.5 percent increase in net sales to €18.52 million for the period. Its sales of eyewear rose at an even faster pace, generating 82.6 percent of the group's revenues against 79.7 percent in the first half of ...
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Luxury Optical Holdings acquires Robert Marc
Luxury Optical Holdings (LOH) has announced the acquisition of Robert Marc Eyewear and its wholesale and retail subsidiaries. Following the takeover, LOH will operate 58 retail stores throughout the U.S. and its brands will have distribution in more than 20 countries throughout the world. Robert Marc, who founded Robert Marc ...
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Allison presents Urban rh+ eyewear for city riders
Rh+ has discovered an interesting new market – the urban cyclists who use a bike regularly and seriously to get around the city. Lifted by the new and fast-growing category of electric bicycles, this market is growing for at least two reasons: firstly, because of heavy urban traffic congestion, and ...
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Julbo expands in the Middle East and Asia
Julbo started a partnership to serve several countries in the Arabian Peninsula this past summer with EGMA Optical Supplies, a distributor who has worked with Rodenstock for many years, and it is now targeting the Asian markets. The company has a laboratory where it can make corrective lenses for Julbo's ...
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The U.S. optical business improved in August
The overall rating of the U.S. optical business environment rose to 3.88 in August from a July rating of 3.77, according to the Optical Business Barometer (OBB) compiled by Jobson Optical Research. The August 2014 rating also shows an increase from previous August ratings of 3.72 in 2013, 3.72 in ...
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Ørgreen backs Claire Goldsmith
We have already reported about the partnership between Pro Design of Denmark and Face à Face, the French brand of designer eyewear (EWI vol. 15 - 11°12 of July 10). Ørgreen Optics, a fast-growing Danish producer of high-end designer eyewear, has now formed a strategic partnership with Claire Goldsmith, the ...
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Kering brings eyewear licenses in-house
Kering, the French luxury goods and sportswear group that owns Gucci and many other brands, has decided to regain control over its eyewear licenses and develop them in-house. The decision mainly affects Safilo, which holds the important Gucci license.Among the other brands owned by Kering that will be affected by ...
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Smart glasses come to Europe
Smart glasses don't have to have all the communication capabilities of Google Glass. A French voluntary group, Atol, plans to launch a new line of inexpensive eyeglasses across its network of opticians before the end of this year, called Théou (=Where are you?), that allow the wearers to retrieve them ...
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Fielmann continues its forward stride
There is no let-up in Fielmann's continued progress, and this was reflected in its share price. After a previously announced stock split on Aug. 22, the company's shares were trading at €49.05. In reporting its results for the first half of this year, during which the company's share price went ...
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CooperVision continues to outperform the market
The growth of the global soft contact lens market reached 6 percent in terms of local currencies during the 12 months ended June 30, according to the Contact Lens Institute, but it slowed down to 3 percent year-on-year during the second calendar quarter of this year. CooperVision (CVI) continued to ...
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More creativity from Italy
Italy is no longer the exclusive domain of the big eyewear conglomerates and the small craftsmen who work for them and other big firms on an OEM basis. A new generation of small eyewear brands with a high design content and original stories to tell has been taking hold in ...
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Local designer eyewear shows are mushrooming
A new race of small designer-oriented eyewear fairs is building up in Europe as a complement to the bigger and more generalist international eyewear shows. They mainly cater to opticians who want to have a distinctive offer in their stores for a demanding clientele.The first and most exclusive event of ...
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Sunglasses drive Italy’s export growth
By the end of this year the annual value of Italy's eyewear exports is expected to cross the €3 billion threshold. This projection is based on the data for the first half of 2014, which make it highly probable that eyewear “made in Italy” will hit yet another record on ...
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Under new management, Luxottica may still be interested in Essilor and Maui Jim
The latest reports in the Italian press, which has a good relationship with Luxottica, indicate that the new management of the group may be interested in pursuing a merger with Essilor International, moving the group into the lens business, and the acquisition of Maui Jim, the main competitor to its ...
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Essilor sets up a triumvirate under Sagnières
Like Luxottica, Essilor International is establishing a sort of transatlatic triumvirate to take care of the growing scope of its activities. Jean Carrier, who remains president and chief executive of Essilor of America, has been appointed chief operating officer of the company. He will work alongside Paul du Saillant and ...
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GrandVision gears up for its IPO
In announcing its results for the first half of this year, Hal Holding said that an initial public offering (IPO) of GrandVision BV on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange is currently in preparation. It will take place by the end of November at the earliest, depending on conditions in the ...
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Lenstore reaches its first £1 million revenue month
Lenstore has achieved its first £1 million (€0.8bn-$1.1bn) turnover month as it partners with Vision Express to offer in-store eye tests in Vision Express practices. The online contact lens retailer, which was acquired by Vision Express' owner, GrandVision, in December, made the record billing in May. The sum is said to ...
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MyOptique raises £16 million to fund further expansion
MyOptique has announced that it has secured £16 million (€20.25m-$27.31m) in additional investment, bringing the total raised in its current Series C funding round to £35 million (€44.30m-$59.75m). At the same time the British optical group, which claims to be Europe's largest online eyewear retailer, posted its year-end results, showing profitability ...
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Luxottica posts record profit levels in Q2
Investors reacted negatively to reports in the Italian press earlier this week that Andrea Guerra, the 49-year-old chief executive of Luxottica, may leave the company soon, after ten years of strong development at its helm, The share price fell by 3 percent to €39.47 after the reports and closed down ...
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Safilo wants house brands to represent 40-45% of sales in five to seven years
Safilo said that it plans to increase the share of house brands to 40-45 percent of the group's total revenues in five to seven years from about 20 percent currently - through organic growth and through possible new acquisitions.In a conference call with financial analysts company's chief executive, Luisa Delgado, ...
