Latest Headlines – Page 16
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Fielmann opens subsidiary in France, appoints general manager
Fielmann’s agenda in France seems to be accelerating as the German-based retail group established a subsidiary in the country this summer. The company, whose strategic Vision 2025 plan announced in 2019 calls for the entry of one new country per year, has said that it was keeping an eye on ...
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Strong stock price variations for eyewear companies in Q3
On a non-weighted average basis, stock prices of publicly listed companies in the eyewear sector went down by 1.3 percent in the quarter to September 30 in an apparent relative recovery from the 17 percent dive reported for the previous quarter. It compares slightly unfavorably with the global MSCI index, ...
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Fast-growing Blickers launches private label
Blickers, one of the fast-growing multibrand online eyewear retailers in Europe, is launching its private label range of sunglasses and optical frames to complement its website offerings and further accelerate its growth. Called 99 Essentials, the collection includes 99 SKUs chosen based on the company’s big data analysis of best-selling ...
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French supermarket chain invests in Sym Optic
Sym Optic, the French supplier of remote refraction exams and optical products, has raised €5 million in new funds from several investors including Les Mousquetaires group, one of the leading retail groups in France, Macif, an insurance company, and three private equity funds. The company said that the new cash ...
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Leading French buying group evaluates lens suppliers
Along with Galileo Business Consulting, the Centrale des Opticiens (CDO) – which purports to France’s largest buying group for independent opticians – has conducted a survey of its membership to map the lay of the land between opticians and their lens suppliers. The results were released on the occasion of ...
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Good momentum at Silmo Paris
Silmo Paris closed its doors on Monday afternoon after a well-attended and lively edition that confirmed the post-pandemic rebound of the trade show. Although attendance and exhibiting surface remained lower than in the 2019 edition, with travel restrictions still in place in some regions, they were significantly higher than in ...
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Bollé accelerates in RX
Bollé Brands has announced the launch of a new RX program that will enable its customers in Europe and North America to order its branded eyewear and goggles adapted to their eyesight from the group’s optical network. The new online service includes the brands in the group’s sport and luxury ...
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Under new ownership, DEG acquires William Morris
Design Eyewear Group (DEG), the group of designer eyewear brands, has just announced the expansion of its portfolio with the acquisition of William Morris London. DEG said that the investment was one more step in the direction of the group’s target of becoming one of the world’s leading multi-brand suppliers ...
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New report puts global ophthalmic lenses and frames’ market at €22 bn
The global market for ophthalmic lenses and frames has recovered well from the impact of the COVID pandemic, according to Mark Mackenzie, co-founder with his wife Ingeborg of Strategy with Vision Management (SWV), an independent optical consultancy and research company started in 2001. This is one of the conclusions that ...
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U.S. eyecare market insulated from inflation, CLI survey says
Vision Expo West – held on Sept. 14-17 in Las Vegas – previewed the results of a survey on eyecare in times of financial duress. Commissioned by the Contact Lens Institute through its “See Tomorrow” initiative, and conducted on Aug. 9-17, the survey queried 251 contact lens wearers screened from ...
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Arts Optical grows 12%, driven by wholesale and lenses
Eyewear manufacturer Arts Optical has reported a 12 percent year-on-year increase in total sales to HK$580 million (€74 m) for the first half of 2022. As shown in the table below, the distribution unit and the new lens unit largely outperformed the main OEM division, which accounts for over 70 ...
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MPG prepares for integration of former GrandVision stores
A few months after the Michael Pachleitner Group (MPG) took over 177 stores from GrandVision following the acquisition of the Dutch retail group by EssilorLuxottica, we spoke with Marcel Norbart, the seasoned retail manager that MPG appointed as its Chief of Optical Retail, about the most recent developments. The current ...
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French market up 16% in 2021 with little impact from healthcare reform
The Direction de la recherche, des études, de l’évaluation et des statistiques (Drees), the French administration in charge of national research and statistics, has published earlier this week its annual report on healthcare expenses in the country. According to the agency, the optical market in France jumped by 15.8 percent ...
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The Vision Council releases its consumer survey update for Q2
The Vision Council has released its quarterly update for its Consumer inSights research. The report is based on a survey of over 15,000 U.S. adult consumers who answered questions about their vision correction, eye exams and purchases of eyeglasses, contact lenses, readers and sunglasses. We are sharing here a few ...
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New myopia control trial results announced at IMC
EssilorLuxottica released an update on its clinical trial for its myopia management lens Essilor Stellest at the International Myopia Conference that took place in Rotterdam a few days ago. The three-year clinical trial, which was conducted together with the Wenzhou Medical University with over 200 children aged 8 to 13, ...
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Challenging market conditions lead Mister Spex to downgrade outlook
Mister Spex has reported mixed results for the second quarter and the first half of 2022 as, despite a growth acceleration in Q2 and the start of Q3, sales levels remained well below expectations and led the omnichannel retailer to downgrade its forecast for the year and to adjust its ...
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Jimmy Fairly to boost retail network, enter 3 new countries
Jimmy Fairly, the French-based and vertically integrated eyewear brand, has announced plans to more than double its number of stores in France and the U.K. by 2025 and to enter three new European countries in the coming months. Founded in 2011 by two young French entrepreneurs, Antonin Chartier and Sacha ...
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Materialise sees its eyewear volumes triple within 5 years
Created in 2014, the eyewear division of Materialise, the Belgian-based 3D printing specialist, has introduced several innovations for 3D-printed glasses and has established itself as the market leader in the field. Ahead of the Silmo trade show, we sat down with Alireza Parandian, the unit’s manager, to reflect on the ...
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CVI up 11% organically, sees myopia management segment breaking even
CooperCompanies has reported a 2 percent year-on-year increase to $566.3 million in sales for its CooperVision unit in Q3, slowed down by strong currency headwinds. The division’s revenue grew by 10 percent at constant exchange rates and by 11 percent on an organic basis compared to the same quarter last ...
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Fielmann sees profits squeezed in H1
The Fielmann Group reported its Ebitda narrowed to €171.4 million in the first half of 2022 from €186.6 million the year earlier while its net profit slipped to €28.2 million from €37.4 million, as the group increased employees’ salaries amid a shortage of skilled workers while sales continued to be ...