Latest Headlines
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German suppliers saw their sales drop 9.5% last year
The Covid-19 pandemic put a brutal end to a decade of steady growth for the German eyewear industry, according to a new report by Spectaris , the national trade association. After a record sales’ increase of 5.4 percent in 2019, revenues of German suppliers of optical products dropped by 9.5 ...
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TOG sales down 9 percent in spite of improved product mix
The Thai Optical Group (TOG) posted overall revenues of 1,850 million baht (€50.9m-$61.5m) for its financial year ended Dec. 31, down by 9 percent from the previous year. Sales of lenses and services to external customers decreased by 8 percent year-on-year to THB 1,838 million (€50.5m-$61.2m), with sales of ...
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Contact lenses drove Alcon recovery in Q4
Alcon reported a 2 percent year-on-year increase in total revenues to $1,925 million for the fourth quarter of its 2020 financial year, marking a return to positive growth figures after two consecutive negative quarters. In constant currencies, total sales increased by 1 percent. Sales in the vision care ...
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Solstice Sunglasses files for bankruptcy protection
Solstice Marketing Concept LLC , owner of the Solstice Sunglasses retail chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week in the Southern District of New York, after its sales nose-dived by more than 50 percent last year from 2019 levels. The company highlighted the impact of the Covid-19 ...
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Italian fashion industry still expects sharp declines in H1
The Italian fashion industry still expects sharp declines in sales during the first two quarters of 2021, after falling by 26 percent in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a survey released by Confindustria Moda , the umbrella association which comprises Anfao , the trade association representing eyewear ...
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French ready to raise their eyewear budget
88 percent of French consumers plan to maintain or raise their budget for their next purchase of prescription eyewear, according to the results of a new survey by Opinion Way , a research company commissioned by Gifo , the French eyewear industry association, and the Silmo trade show. This ...
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Memberships and international sales up at Menicon
Menicon , the Japanese contact lens specialist, posted last week stable revenues of JPY63.4 billion (€496.3m-$599.8m) for the first three quarters of its current fiscal year, a 0.1 percent increase only from the previous year. Sales of contact lenses and care products went down by 2.5 percent year-on-year to ...
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Kering Eyewear’s sales recover in H2
In 2020, Kering Eyewear posted sales of €487.1 million, down by 17.6 percent on a comparable basis. After being hard hit by Covid-19 related lockdowns in the first half, particularly in travel retail, revenues recovered in the second half, when the decline narrowed to 8.6 percent. After excluding ...
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France and Germany fared better than Italy and Spain last year
In an online presentation to the members of Club Inter-Optiques , a French eyewear professionals’ association, GFK announced the results of its annual research on the optical market in France and four other European countries for 2020. The company’s results are based on sell-out data from a representative panel ...
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GFK estimates French market fell by 11% in 2020
GFK provided the Club Inter-Optiques ’ conference participants with more detailed figures on the French optical market, giving it a value of €5.9 billion in 2020, representing a 10.7 percent year-on-year decline as mentioned in the previous article. In volume, the company estimates that 1.3 million fewer corrective eyeglasses ...
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Thélios, Mazzucchelli, Eastman to work on sustainable innovation
Thélios , the Italian eyewear manufacturer resulting from a joint venture between LVMH and Marcolin , the Italian acetate-sheet manufacturer Mazzucchelli 1849 and the American specialty chemical group Eastman have joined forces to develop sustainable innovation in the eyewear industry. “Sustainability has become a business imperative. We ...
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EU to decide on Essilux's takeover of GrandVision on April 12
The European Commission has set April 12, 2021 as the latest deadline for the end of an in-depth investigation into EssilorLuxottica’ s proposed €7.2 billion takeover of GrandVision . The deadline has been postponed several times. The proposed deal, referred to as case M.9569, was notified to ...
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Itochu and Aquafil join forces to sell recycled nylon
The Japanese trading company Itochu and the Italian chemical firm Aquafil have entered a partnership to promote and expand the businesses of circular nylon production. In 2011, Aquafil created the Econyl Regeneration System that turns recovered nylon waste such as fishing nets, carpets and post-industrial waste back ...
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French pay 7% more from their own pocket for eyeglasses
Carte Blanche , the French healthcare organization, has analyzed two million purchases by French consumers in 2020 and the related social security and private insurance refunds in the optical and dental sectors in order to assess the consequences of the healthcare reform introduced on Jan. 1 last year. Called ...
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Pro Optik goes online, plans to add 200 stores by 2025
Pro Optik , a German optical retail chain with about 150 stores, opened its first e-commerce website in January, offering direct purchase and delivery for most of its ranges as well as live consultations with opticians. Products offered online include single vision glasses, sunglasses, contact lenses and eye care products. ...
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Essilux to buy 50% of SightGlass Vision from CooperCompanies
EssilorLuxottica will buy a 50 percent stake of SightGlass Vision , which focuses on developing lenses to reduce the progression of myopia in children, from CooperCompanies, the parent company of CooperVision. CooperCompanies held a minority ownership interest in SightGlass Vision and bought the company in January. Under ...
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Vision Expo, 100% Optical change plans
The Covid-19 and its new variants, as well as the uncertain completion dates of the current vaccination campaigns, are keeping trade show organizers under pressure to find solutions for their 2021 editions. While plans seem unchanged for the Milan-based Mido show which just started its visitors’ registration campaign for ...
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U.K., EU trade heavily affected by Brexit, worse may be ahead
Brexit has complicated life for merchants in the European Union exporting to the U.K., which highlights new paperwork requirements, higher administrative costs, delivery delays and uncertainty about what the rules of the game are now that the U.K. is no longer a member of the single market since Jan. 1. ...
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Sales of J&J contact lenses down 5.3% in Q4
Johnson Johnson’ s global sales of contact lenses fell by 4.4 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter to $796 million. At constant currency rates, the decline widened to 5.3 percent as sales continued to be impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Lower levels of stocking in the U.S. also ...
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Sales recovery and record profits for Hoya in Q3
The results of Hoya Corporation for its third quarter, ended Dec. 31, showed that the Japanese group was pursuing its recovery from the negative impact of Covid-19, with stable revenues and a double-digit year-on-year increase in profits. Top line figures for the Health Care division were back in the ...