All Article articles – Page 174
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Signs Of Recovery In The Belluno District
The last quarter of 2005 produced significant signs of recovery in the Italian eyewear manufacturing industry located in the Belluno region, with positive indicators for both turnover and employment, according to a survey conducted by the local industry association, SIPAO. There were also further signs of concentration around the industry's ...
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Ppg Buys Intercast
PPG Industries, the world leader in the production of optical hard resins, has bought Intercast Europe, the leading Italian manufacturer of hard-resin plano lenses and solar filters for sun and sports eyewear, along with its manufacturing facilities in Thailand. Intercast had invested €12 million in the latest of its Thai ...
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D&A Partners With A Supermarket Chain For Online Contact Lenses
Dollond & Aitchison is partnering with Sainsbury's, the British supermarket chain, to offer an online service for contact lenses. Through the new service, customers will be able to order a range of contact lenses for direct delivery and obtain new prescriptions from their existing opticians or through one of D&A's ...
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Safilo Continues To Grow
Safilo Group has announced that its licensing agreement with Max Mara, which was due to expire at the end of 2006, has been extended to 2013, as it has already done with the Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent licenses. Safilo and Max Mara, two companies which are similar in size, ...
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Singapore Firm Introduces Vision Correction Software
A company that says it stems from about 20 years of research is ready to enter the global optical market with a patented software training program that claims to correct certain eye deficiencies like presbyopia, delaying the need for reading glasses. The company, called Neurovision, plans to spend an additional ...
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New European Standard Measures The Nickel Risk More Efficiently
Manufacturers of eyewear for the European market now have a final technical reference to measure the risk of nickel release on the skin. CEN, the agency of the European Union that defines safety standards for goods circulating within the European Union, has designated a specific simulation method, based on corrosion, ...
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Fielmann Will Expand Further In The German-speaking World
The giant German retailer wants to set up 120-140 more stores in Germany over the next few years, although it already claims a market share of 53 percent in its home market in terms of volume and a share of 28 percent in value. The expansion will take place mainly ...
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Guildinvest Outpaces The French Market
Krys and the other banners affiliated with the French buying group raised their combined sales by 5.1 percent in the optical retailing sector, with a same-store increase of 3.2 percent. They performed better than the national market, which grew by between 1.5 and 2.7 percent according to different polls, with ...
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Swank Goes Under New Management
Swank International Manufacturing has appointed Dicky Kawai Tong as its new CEO and Teresa Chan as its new marketing and communications manager. Both executives come from the bankrupt Moulin Global Eyecare Holdings. Tong spent 11 years at Moulin, rising to the post of vice president and executive director. Indicating that ...
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Hoya Improves Margins
Hoya Corp. reached a 19.5 percent operating margin (EBIT) in the vision care segment during the year ended March 31, up from 18.0 percent in the previous financial year, as sales grew by 10.0 percent to 104.5 billion yen (€730m-$923m). The Japanese company reached this score in spite of considerable ...
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Luxottica Posts Strong Results In Quarter
The group's total consolidated sales increased by 21.7 percent to €1,262 million in the 1st quarter ended March 31, with growth of 14.2 percent on a currency-neutral basis. Boosted by a stronger dollar, Luxottica's retail sales increased by 17.7 percent to €890.9 million, while wholesale revenues from sales to third ...
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1-800 Contacts Falls Short On Production
Although its sales went up, 1-800 Contacts was unable to meet U.S. demand for certain prescription contact lenses in the year ended Dec. 31, 2005, and its net results suffered. The company's turnover rose by 12 percent to $238 million in 2005, but it reported a net loss of $2.6 ...
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Marcolin Plans An Equity Increase After Profits Slump
The transition toward new uncertain targets is proving decidedly difficult for Marcolin, after the drastic blow represented by the loss of the Dolce & Gabbana brands, which represented about one-half the group revenues and which went over to Luxottica. The consequent fall in turnover and the investments necessary to launch ...
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Cvi Has Lower Margins, But New Product Launches Should Help Turn It Around
After a self-described disappointing year in terms of new product introductions, CooperVision's profit margins continued to decline in the 1st quarter ended last Jan. 31, but the management has expressed confidence in the three new products it began rolling out during the quarter and in the future of hydrogel technology. ...
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Oakley Buys The Optical Shop Of Aspen
Oakley is acquiring OSA Holding and its retail subsidiary, The Optical Shop of Aspen, which comprises 14 luxury eyewear stores in the USA, describing the takeover as a continuation of a new focus on the more fashion-oriented eyewear market, which began with the acquisition of Oliver Peoples a few weeks ...
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Factoring For Small Producers In Italy's Belluno District
Under the terms of a new factoring agreement, some 500 artisans and 100 small and medium-sized suppliers to the major eyewear groups in the Italian eyewear manufacturing district of Belluno will be able to sell their accounts receivable to IFIS, the finance and discount institute founded by Sebastien Egon von ...
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Boots Expands Its Franchising Program
Boots Opticians has decided to roll out its store franchising program throughout the UK, extending it also to opticians who are not currently employed by Boots, following the successful implementation of a pilot project over the last three years. The company is looking at adding franchises in 12 different communities ...
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Charmant Gets The Puma License
We had heard that Luxottica was going to get the coveted eyewear license for Puma, which has become over the last few years the world's leading sports lifestyle brand. In the end, the global license has gone to Charmant, the Japanese giant, but Luxottica is part of the deal as ...
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Comotec Withdraws Layoff Plan And Seeks To Hire New Skills
Comotec has scrapped the second phase of a plan of employees' layoffs that had been scheduled for this year due to the high demand for its products. In the initial phase of the plan, 29 jobs were cut last year. All the other 70 employees concerned by the plan will ...
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Earnings Grow, But Same-store Sales Decline In Hal's Retail Network
On a same-store basis, the sales of the optical stores controlled by HAL Holding decreased by 0.5 percent in 2005. The company would not provide any breakdown, but it seems that much of the decline was accounted for by Apollo Optik, which continued to suffer from the German health reform. ...
