Latest Headlines – Page 138
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Indo Sheds Its Eyewear, Its Stores, And Lays Off One-third Of Its Staff
Indo Internacional has decided to dismiss 294 employees out of its total staff of nearly 1,000 people as part of a major reorganization that will involve its disengagement from the retail sector and from the production and sale of sunglasses and prescription frames. The Spanish company has also decided ...
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Spain's Masvision Grows Strongly
The acquisition of 10 Novolent stores from the bankrupt Indo group is part of a program intended to raise the share of the Spanish optical retail market held by MasVision Grupo Optico from 3 percent to 9 percent by 2015. The group, which is part of the international optical retail ...
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Vision Is Launches Centralized Settlements, Has New Plans In Korea
This highly selective Italian cooperative of franchised opticians has become even more selective in launching an experiment in centralized invoicing and settlements that will start next month, six months later than originally planned to fine-tune the program and to optimize its results. The initial test will only involve four unnamed ...
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New Directors From The World Of Finance At Gruppo Randazzo
The Sicilian chain of 180 optical retail stores has enlarged its board of directors from three to five members to accommodate two representatives of a private equity fund, BS Investimenti SGR. However, company officials point out that the investment company has not acquired any shares in Gruppo Randazzo, which remains ...
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Managers Take Over Gerber Coburn
Gerber Scientific is selling Gerber Coburn, its subsidiary specializing in ophthalmic lens processing equipment and consumables, and the smallest one of its three business units. The company making the purchase, Coburn Technologies, is newly formed and its primary investor is Edward Jepsen, a former board member of Gerber Scientific. Alex ...
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Luneau Consolidates Briot At Management Level
Daniel Peyrot, who has run Briot International for many years, has the left the company along with his commercial director, Eric Girbal, following the recent acquisition of the company by Luneau Technology, parent of Visionix. Marc Abitbol, president of Luneau, is now in charge of Briot as well. Jean-Jacques ...
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Zeiss Group Makes A Quantum Leap, But Not In Vision
The revenues of Carl Zeiss Vision increased by only 0.2 percent to €881 million in the financial year ended last Sept. 30. The Carl Zeiss group, which is taking full ownership of CZV, saw its overall sales jump by 42 percent to $2.98 billion, thanks mainly to a 207 percent ...
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European Court Ruling On Internet Sales Pleases Euromcontact, Sort Of
The European Court of Justice ruled on Dec. 2 that the sale of contact lenses over the internet cannot be prohibited in the European Union, but nonetheless acknowledged the need for some kind of regulations to protect the consumer. The case, which we have already reported on last July, ...
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Full Merger Of Alcon And Novartis Is Set To Go Ahead
Alcon and Novartis have finally agreed on the terms by which Novartis will buy the Alcon shares it does not already own. The total consideration is valued at $168 per Alcon share, made up of Novartis shares and, if necessary, cash to make up the difference. The exact ratio is ...
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Coopervision Continues To Gain Market Share
CooperVision claims it grew twice as fast as the global soft contact lens market in the last quarter of its financial year, ended last Oct. 31, and for the previous three quarters. It gained market share everywhere except in the Asia-Pacific region, but that should end following its acquisition of ...
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Marcolin Shareholders Strike New Pact
Marcolin has rearranged and renewed for three years a pact, which was originally formed on Dec 14. 2007, giving preferential rights and powers to some of its shareholders over 50.2 percent of the company's equity. The shareholders participating in the new syndicate include members of the founding Marcolin family and ...
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Vecellio Occhiali Closes Down
Vecellio Occhiali, an Italian producer of spectacles that was acquired in 2008 by the private equity company Camelot Nordest, ceased its activities on Nov. 22. A liquidator has been appointed to settle debts amounting to around €1.5 million with the company's creditors. Located in Auronzo di Cadore, Vecellio employs 30 ...
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Italian Fashion Accessory Shows Unite
Fiamp, the Italian federation grouping producers of many different kinds of fashion accessories, including eyewear, has created the brand ALL ACCESSories for use by its members as an umbrella name for their trade shows - Mido, Micam, Mifur and Mipel ? starting with their next sessions, which are all scheduled ...
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U.S. Optical Industry Feels The Pinch From The Economy
U.S. consumption trends in the ophthalmic sector are faltering behind the general retail trends, according to the newest VisionWatch Economic Survey out by The Vision Council. While the overall retail sector is increasing significantly compared with 2009, consumer spending in the optical realm it is just barely growing along with ...
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Borsalino's Exports Begin With France
Brands O.I., a company established to produce and distribute Borsalino eyewear, confirmed its plans and strategies at the recent Silmo show in Paris, just nine months after its arrival on the market (Eyewear Intelligence Vol. 11:2). France is the first foreign target market for the new eyewear line named after ...
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Lezoptics Typifies Chinese Companies Born Of Globalization
Hong Kong-based Lezoptics is a typical Chinese eyewear manufacturer, one of many that now make up Asia's industrial strength, a product of the globalization process and the bugbear of the eyewear industry. The group was established in 1985 by an investment fund that then entrusted it to a group of ...
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Fielmann Improves Its Position In A Strangely Lackluster German Market
Fielmann reports that it has met its targets for the first nine months of 2010. For the third quarter alone, total external revenues grew by 4.8 percent to €302.9 million and group turnover rose by 4.9 percent to €260.3 million. Pre-tax profit grew by 10.0 percent to €50.8 million, and ...
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Safilo Boosts Sales And Profitability, Wants To Work More Closely With Hal
Enjoying a remarkable turnaround after being on the brink of bankruptcy last year, Safilo bolstered sales and profitability in the third quarter. Growth was especially strong in China. The new powerhouse is becoming Safilo's largest market in Asia, overtaking Japan, and currently represents about 2.5 percent of its sales. ...
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Marcolin Sees 2010 As Record Year
Marcolin expects 2010 to be a record year in terms of both sales and profits and says that 2011 looks very promising, too. The comments come after the group booked an 18.6 percent increase in sales for the first nine months of the year to €155.3 million. The performance in ...
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Hoya Reaches High Margins But Expects A Slowdown
The operating margin of Hoya Corporation's vision care operations reached a 12-month record of 23.9 percent in its second quarter ended Sept. 30, but the group is forecasting a drop to 20.9 percent in the third and fourth quarters of its financial year. As most of its eyeglass lenses are ...
