All Article articles – Page 146
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Hello Kitty: Polaroid, Opal And Inottica All On The Same Markets
Following on from an article in the last issue of EyeWear Intelligence, we can now confirm the existence of a number of non-exclusive licensees on the European market for Hello Kitty children's eyewear. Polaroid Eyewear received the license from the brand's owner, Sanrio, to produce eyewear for girls aged ten ...
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Pramaor Holds Its Own, ?All Italian, All Titanium'
Niche products are less affected by the recession, and can justify a medium to high price thanks to a high level of technology. Such is the case of the Belluno-based firm Pramaor, named after the mother of the current owner, Nicola Del Din, who originally established the firm to make ...
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Allison Targets Emerging Markets
Confirmation has now come through that the €33 million injected into the capital of Allison by its majority shareholder, Carisma, will be used to reduce the group's debt load, thus enabling the banks to regain confidence and confirm the credit lines previously negotiated. In 2008 Allison generated sales of €100 ...
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Area Licenses Its Own Brand Name While Losing Coco Song
Area and Coco Song are now proceeding along their separate paths. Based in Italy, Area was previously a company that was selling eyewear under its own name and those of Coco Song and various other brands, such as La Matta and Kaos, generating less turnover than previously reported, but it ...
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Argo Vision Buying Group Will Destroy Glasses To Clear Unsold Inventories
Scrapping stock with the aid of the state in order to get rid of unsold inventories is a new proposition for opticians belonging to the Argo Vision buying group from the Abruzzo region of Italy, with 82 outlets in central Italy. The program is made possible thanks to the centralized ...
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Hal And Marcolin Are Circling Around Safilo
Diego Della Valle, the owner of Tod's and a leading shareholder in Marcolin, and the investment group Hal Holding have both bought a stake of more than 2 percent in Safilo, rekindling speculation about the future of the troubled eyewear company. Della Valle bought a 2.06 percent stake and ...
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Hoya Vision Care Relocates To Bangkok
After moving its global head office from Japan to the Netherlands four years ago, Hoya Vision Care has now moved it o, once again to Bangkok in Thailand, close to its five production facilities in the country, effective on Oct. 1. Gerry Bottero, the American executive who heads up ...
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Mazzucchelli Closes Most Of Comotec's Facilities In France
Mazzucchelli, the world's leading producer of semi-finished acetate for frames, has decided to close the remaining facilities of Comotec, the manufacturer of metal components in the Jura region of France that the Italian group acquired in 2003 to give it complete control over the production of semi-finished frames. The site ...
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Morel Defies The Economy
This French eyewear company, which has won many Silmo d'Or awards in the last few years, continues to grow in spite of the tough economic conditions, probably in part because of its very special business model. It is one of the few companies in the sector that does not rely ...
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Silmo Suffers From The Economy, Moves To New Fairgrounds
The number of visitors at the Silmo fair fell by about 20 percent as compared to last year. Total attendance was down to about 32,000 trade operators at the Sept. 17-20 show, and like last year, about 51 percent of them came from outside France. Many exhibitors praised the quality ...
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Fittingbox Raises More Equity And Launches A Pos Module
FittingBox, a French high-tech company born in 2006, claims to have become the leading provider of testing solutions for glasses over the internet, with users trying out no less than 20 million pairs over the last 12 months by leading brands such as Ray-Ban and Lacoste and by leading optical ...
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Fabris Lane Gets Special Help For Sales To Opticians
Fabris Lane, which claims to be Britain's largest supplier of sunglasses, working mainly with the multiple chains, has found a way to expand sales of its new prescription frames on the U.K. market. The company has entered into a loose partnership with William Morris Eyewear for the sale of its ...
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The German Industry Is Doing Fine
Stable 2009 revenues are predicted for the 150-odd producers of glasses, lenses and contact lenses that belong to the German eyewear industry association, Spectaris. In spite of the general economic situation, they are expected to reach a similar turnover as in 2008, with a slight sales increase in Germany offsetting ...
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Ppg-intercast Now Proposes Nxt Polymer For Frames
The NXT polymer, already used for sunglass lenses and for photochromatic prescription lenses, can also be used now for frames. Intercast indicated this application when it first presented the new material a few years ago, but now that the firm is part of the PPG Group, it has become a ...
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Ioft And Opti Munich Restructure, Too
The leading Japanese and German fairs are both introducing a distinct section for designer eyewear, following the successful model pioneered by Silmo and later adopted by Mido as well. The move has been prompted in part by a new initiative by the French Chamber of Commerce to support the promotion ...
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Vision Revenues Drop By 2.6% In The Usa
The U.S. vision care market suffered a 2.6 percent drop in revenues to $32.7 billion for the 12 months ended last June, according to «Consumer Barometer,» the periodic study conducted by Jobson Optical Research and The Vision Council. Sales of frames were nearly flat, falling by just 0.4 percent. They ...
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Cvi Closes U.S. Plant, Stays Ahead Of The Market
About 570 jobs will be lost as CooperVision (CVI) closes its contact lens manufacturing facility in Norfolk, Virginia, over the next 15 months. The plant makes about 7 percent of the company's total contact lenses, but is being phased out because of «increased manufacturing efficiencies.» Production of contact lenses will ...
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Italian Politicians Antagonize The Big Eyewear Firms Over New Origin Labels
The major Italian eyewear companies and those belonging to some other industrial sectors are up in arms against recent legislation, voted by the Italian Parliament at the end of July, that makes it mandatory for Italian brand owners to place a label with the country of origin on any of ...
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Big Drops At Marcolin
Marcolin suffered a 7.2 percent drop in revenues to €100 million in the first half of 2009, down by 9.5 percent at constant exchange rates. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) were €11 million, a 32.1 percent drop from the same period last year. The Ebitda margin thus ...
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Business Is Stable For Green Vision
Green Vision closed 2008 with a sell-in of around €70 million, more or less flat year on year. Green Vision is the trading name of Consorzio Ottico Italiano, a cooperative of 300 opticians with a total of 540 outlets throughout Italy, operating mainly in the centre and south of the ...
