Latest Headlines – Page 131
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Salmoiraghi: New CEO, new commercial spot
Italy's largest eyewear chain, Salmoiraghi & Viganò, has a new chief executive with many years' experience in the retail trade. After 20 years with a major Italian hypermarket group, PAM, 48-year-old Giorgio Candido was previously general manager of the Italian branch of Metro, the multinational cash & carry group. Salmoiraghi's ...
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Mister Spex focuses on Germany
Mister Spex reduced its staff by 12 percent in September. In total, 19 of the 150 employees at Mister Spex will be leaving the German online eyewear retailer by the end of this month. Only 6 percent of all employees have left the company for operational reasons. The company says ...
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Bausch + Lomb gets new leadership
Sheila Hopkins, formerly at Colgate-Palmolive Company, will take the reins of Bausch + Lomb's vision care business as global president. In her previous position, vice president, general manager, professional oral care at Colgate-Palmolive, she helped increase both the top and bottom lines, and supported the revitalization of the product stream ...
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CVI gains market shares
The revenues of CooperVision grew by 20 percent to $298.3 million in the third quarter ended July 31, rising by 11 percent in constant currencies. Excluding the acquisition of Aime in Japan, which is helping the U.S. company to penetrate an important market for its new line of silicon hydrogel ...
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Essilor breaks ground on new Innovation and Technology Center
Essilor International has started construction on its new Innovation and Technology Center in Créteil, France, expected to be up and running in 2013. The company has invested €30 million in the center, which will regroup the R&D and engineering teams, about 450 people, and help Essilor get products to market ...
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FittingBox’ Virtual Mirror is taking on new shapes
FittingBox, which claims to be the leading supplier of virtual try-on systems for spectacles via the internet, is developing some interesting new solutions for the benefit of brands and their retail clients, such as the opportunity to try on two models at the same time through its “Virtual Mirror,” or ...
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German customers are apparently discovering sunglasses
GfK's European sunglass panel has shown a positive first half of 2011, with growth of 7 percent to more than €1 billion in the optical retail circuit.Germany was the only major country where sales of sunglasses increased markedly in the first half of this year in the optical retail circuit, ...
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The French market slows down
The latest figures from GfK for the French optical market indicate that it grew by only 1.6 percent in the first half of this year, down from an increase of 2.1 percent to €5.4 billion for all of 2010. Published in a French daily newspaper, the figures also indicate that ...
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Italy’s output slows down
Italy's eyewear exports for the first half of 2011 confirmed the growth recorded for the full 12 months of the previous year, up by 17 percent compared with 17.3 percent in 2010. These are reassuring figures for Italy's eyewear sector, but don't exclude a certain degree of concern, due partly ...
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World sight day on Milan tramway
A special tram, put on by the city's public transport provider, ATM, will run in central Milan on Oct. 13 and 14, providing an unusual service to passengers: They will be able to have their eyes tested on board, free of charge. This is the most spectacular of the various ...
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Gatorz changes market positioning
While adopting a new logo and launching a new internet platform to cater to today's more youthful lifestyle trends, the Canadian company has introduced a new line of premium injection-molded sunglasses made in Italy. While their average prices are lower than those of its aluminum sunglasses, which are made in ...
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Essilor launches anti-fog lens coatings
Essilor International unveiled Friday a new category of hydrophilic ophthalmic coatings that prevent the condensation of fog on the lenses, while preserving their anti-smudge qualities. Presented as a major technological breakthrough and protected by patents for the quality and durability of their performance, Essilor's new Optifog line is expected to ...
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Stable growth and margins for Essilor
Confirming its forecast of a sales increase of 6 to 8 percent on a currency-neutral basis and aside from strategic acquisitions for the full year, Essilor International reported last Friday an increase of only 1.1 percent to €1,032.5 million in consolidated revenues for the second quarter of this year.On a ...
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Essilor makes more acquisitions
With cash flow growing by 8.5 percent in the first half, Essilor easily managed to finance higher industrial investments, which amounted to 3.8 percent of consolidated revenues versus 2.8 percent in the first half of 2010, as well as a 17 percent increase in dividend payments. It also spent €148 ...
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Emerging markets will continue to drive Essilor’s growth
As indicated in the previous article, most of Essilor's recent acquisitions have taken place in emerging markets, and some of them have taken the form of partnerships with well-established local players. The group intends to accelerate this process to take full advantage of the rapidly rising demand for vision correction, ...
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Hoya’s lens business fared well in the quarter
Hoya Corporation's revenues from vision care products rose by about 4 percent in local currencies in Europe during the first quarter of its financial year, ended June 30, according to company officials. The business remained difficult for the company's vision care operations in the U.K. and the Scandinavian countries, but ...
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Fielmann gains margins and market share
While the rest of the optical retail sector suffered a decline in unit sales of 1 percent in Germany during the first six months of 2011, Fielmann was able to raise its unit sales by 4.9 percent to 3.3 million glasses. The country's leading optical retail chain claimed that it ...
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Safilo turns around and continues to clean up its brand portfolio
Safilo has 10 licenses expiring by the end of 2012 and the group is expected to announce the termination of a large number of them in the coming months as it concentrates on renewing the Armani brands.After 13 years of partnership, Safilo announced in June that it would not renew ...
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Former Gucci head will be Safilo’s chairman
Safilo will appoint Roberto Polet, previously in charge of the Gucci Group, to be its non-executive chairman at a general meeting scheduled for Oct. 5. He will replace Melchert Frans Groot, the top executive of Hal, who will remain on the board.Shareholders will also be asked to raise the number ...
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Marcolin’s chief executive resigns
Marcolin's chief executive and general manager, Massimo Saracchi, resigned during a board meeting held on Aug. 4. The decision was made in agreement with the company and he will remain at his post until Sept. 30. No reason was given for the departure but in a statement, Marcolin wished Saracchi ...
