All Article articles – Page 140
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Women Are Beginning To Dominate The Retail Landscape
This is the case now at least in France and in parts of the U.K. In France, the number of certified opticians reached 20,707 in January, according to the French statistical office, and 50.3 percent of them are women. The number of new certifications has increased in the last few ...
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Hoya Recovers Nicely, With Big Profits
After falling revenues in the previous quarters, the vision care segment of Hoya Corporation achieved a sales turnaround in the fourth quarter of its financial year, ended last March 31. Its sales of eyeglass lenses grew by 8.2 percent at home in Japan over the quarter, although they were still ...
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Marcolin Boosts First-quarter Sales And Profits Thanks To Many New Lines
Marcolin boosted its first-quarter sales and profits, and the management attributes the improvements to efforts made over the past years to reinforce the product range and increase efficiencies. The Italian eyewear group, which launched five new collections over the past 18 months, pointed out that, on average, new licensees take ...
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Mintel Takes A Look At The British Optical Market
In its latest annual study of the ophthalmic market in the U.K., Mintel has found that even though more than 70 percent of eye tests are free there, their total number went down by 7 percent to 16.55 million in 2009 because of the economic crisis. Sales of ophthalmic equipment ...
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Polaroid Gets A Sub-license For Columbia Eyewear In Non-optical European Stores
Another interesting collaborative effort in Europe was announced a few days ago concerning another American sports brand, Columbia Sportswear, whose eyewear is licensed to the U.S. subsidiary of the French 200-year-old L'Amy group. As in the case of Converse eyewear (see previous article), specific styles are being developed for the ...
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Rem Partners With Mondottica In Europe For Converse And More
REM Eyewear and Mondottica International have formed a partnership in Europe for the distribution of Converse eyewear. A new 50-50 joint venture, Remdottica, will soon start distributing Converse eyewear in the U.K., Ireland, France and Spain from Mondottica's new office in Nottingham, England. The two companies will also collaborate on ...
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Coopervision Wins Market Shares
With a sales increase of 11.2 percent to $242.3 million in the second quarter ended April 30, CooperVision grew 1.8 times faster than the global soft contact lens market, which rose by 6.2 percent in the first three months of 2010 to reach an estimated level of $1,575 million for ...
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Italian Senators Push For Origin Labeling Of Eyewear
Two senators of the Northern League coalition party in the Italian government, Gianvittore Vaccari and Mario Pittoni, have proposed a bill to introduce mandatory country origin labeling for eyewear. The proposal has to be examined by parliamentary committees before a formal debate. If approved by the Senate it will also ...
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The Italian State Helps Eyewear Producers To Modernize
The Italian government has accepted to finance a plan put forward by the country's eyewear producers and retailers for the modernization of the supply chain, forming a more integrated Italian cluster. Some €16 million of the project's total cost of around €26 million will be covered by suppliers and retailers, ...
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Indo Works On Personalized Frames
Indo International is working to develop a method for making personalized glasses, using three-dimensional geometric templates with fixed and parametrical parts to fit the individual customer's facial characteristics and his or her needs. The measurements would be taken during the purchasing process at opticians' shops, using 3D scanners. Indo ...
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Storm In French Retail Over Kalivia's Insurance Scheme
The 6 million members of two complementary medical insurance companies in France will benefit from preferential conditions to finance their purchase of selected eyeglasses, contact lenses and related products at more than 2,500 optical stores all over France. Called Kalivia, the program has drawn considerable criticism, especially from opticians that ...
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Transitions Gets Sued Over Its Practices In The U.S.
Several optical laboratories and retailers in the U.S. have filed for legal action against Transitions Optical, Essilor of America and Essilor Laboratories of America, saying they violated antitrust laws in order to maintain a monopoly. There are now six claims against the companies from direct purchasers in Indiana, Florida, Connecticut, ...
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The German Optical Retail Market Rose Slightly In 2009
German opticians saw their sales rise by 1.5 percent to an estimated €4,805 million in 2009, according their trade association, ZVA, which has changed its measurement criteria slightly. Sales of spectacles rose by 1.5 percent in volume to 11.2 million units and their value increased by 1.8 percent to €3,897 ...
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Euromcontact Releases 2009 Figures
Euromcontact has put out its look at the soft contact lens markets in Europe for 2009. The organization found that the market for daily disposable (DD), weekly/biweekly and monthly (WB&M) and conventional soft (CS) lenses rose by 6.18 percent to €1,156 million in 22 European countries last year. In the ...
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Gatto Astucci Will Pursue Its Diversification With A New Acquisition
Gatto Astucci, the Italian supplier of eyewear cases, plans to make an acquisition later this year to accelerate its ongoing diversification into a global service company, offering comprehensive point-of-sale marketing solutions to brands and retailers in the eyewear sector and others. The group currently gets 45 percent of ...
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Essilor Meets Expectations In Quarter, Adds Consumables To Its Product Range
Essilor International had a solid first quarter, with a 7.8 increase in turnover to €905.8 million, meeting expectations. At constant currencies and on a comparable scale, revenues grew by 2.5 percent, led by higher sales in emerging markets and a slow rise in established markets. The effect of foreign currencies ...
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Pluriel Afflelou Becomes Claro Afflelou
Alain Afflelou is renaming all 40 of its Pluriel Afflelou stores in France and Belgium Claro Afflelou, the Spanish-sounding name chosen for this alternative retail format at the two Spanish stores that have adopted it so far. The big French franchisor is also extending one of Claro Afflelou's private-label offers ...
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Fielmann Is Making Higher Profits Again
Financial analysts are predicting improved profitability for Fielmann, which booked increases of only 0.4 percent in pre-tax and net earnings last year, after a rather positive first quarter in which its sales grew by 3.5 percent on a same-store basis and by 4.8 percent overall. Analysts are now expecting Fielmann ...
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Nau! May Again Double Its Sales And Enter New Markets
The Italian optical retail chain Nau! ended 2009 with sales of more than €5 million, twice the level booked in 2008. The trend in the first four months of 2010 indicates that it could double its turnover again this year, and the company is in preliminary talks to strike master ...
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Safilo Renews License With Marc Jacobs Ahead Of Time
Safilo has extended for four years its license agreement to design, produce and sell worldwide the brands Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs. The license was scheduled to end on Dec. 31, 2011, but was prolonged to Dec. 31, 2015. The company described Marc Jacobs as one of the ...
