Latest Headlines – Page 158
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Eschenbach Buys U.K. Company To Boost Its Local Market Position
Eschenbach Group is buying International Eyewear Limited, a British supplier of sunglasses and frames, giving the German company better access to the British market for its own eyewear lines than it has had through an existing distributor. Eschenbach will continue to sell its low-vision products separately in the U.K., where ...
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Vsp Buys Marchon
While we were right about the imminent sale of Marchon, speculation about a possible tie-up of Marchon with LVMH, Luxottica, Safilo or another similar strategic investor (see EWI #9-10 of July 29) turned out to be unfounded. America's biggest eyewear producer has been bought instead by Vision Service Plan (VSP), ...
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Change Of Ownership At Logo
The details could not be determined. According to press reports, four new private shareholders have acquired the French eyewear company with the support of an institutional investor. The group is led by a financial consultant, Pierre Verrier, who replaces Dominique Alba in the position. Alba, who had led a management ...
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Fielmann Eyes €1 Billion In Turnover
Fielmann is now certain to break the €1 billion threshold for external sales this year, and analysts are predicting that will reach a record pre-tax profit of around €160 million, after the company released another nice set of figures for the second quarter ended June 30. The pre-tax profit for ...
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Optotech Buys An Italian Firm
The patent-rich German equipment company, which has become a serious challenger of Schneider and Satisloh in the area of free-form lens surfacing, has bought a significant shareholding in an Italian company that makes anti-reflective coating machines, Coerent. Its new name will be OptoTech Italy and it will help the company ...
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Tod's Signs Its First Eyewear License With Marcolin
Tod's has signed a five-year license agreement with the Marcolin Group for making and selling sunglasses and prescription frames under the Tod's and Hogan brands of footwear. For these two brands of the publicly quoted Tod's group, it is their first venture into the eyewear market. It was a ...
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New Major Changes In Management For Rodenstock
Bridgestone, the investment company that took over the German eyewear company last year from Permira, has found its new chief executive. It's Olaf Göttgens, a 42-year-old manager who has been brand manager for Mercedes-Benz cars since the beginning of 2006. He had previously founded his own management consultancy, BBDO. ...
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Essilor Launches A Share Buyback Program After A Good Quarter
As it turns out, it was a subsequently aborted plan to take over CIBA Vision that led Essilor to issue a large number of convertible bonds in 2003 in order to finance it. The cash-rich company has now decided to launch a massive new program to buy back up to ...
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Coopervision's Numbers Are Up
Sales grew by 15 percent to $243.2 million for the third quarter ended July 31 at CooperVision. This translated to an increase of 8 percent in constant currencies, driven in particular by 28 percent growth for its Proclear line and the introduction of Avaira, its new silicon hydrogel spherical contact ...
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Tesco Joins Competitors Online
Customers who need single-vision glasses can now get them for prices as low as £15 (CONVERSION) by ordering online from Tesco. They can also make appointment for an in-store eye examination for just £10 (CONVERSION). The British mass market retailer's online ordering facility lets buyers upload photos of themselves to ...
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Bausch & Lomb Names Two New Regional Heads
Bausch & Lomb has two new corporate vice presidents who have been recently appointed. John H. Brown has been named to be president of the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, and David N. Edwards is the new president for the Asia-Pacific region. Brown comes from Stedim ...
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Important Promotions At Gerber Coburn
Alex Incera has been appointed as president of Gerber Coburn and as corporate vice president of its parent company, Gerber Scientific. He takes the place of Stephen Lovass who continues as president of Gerber Scientific Products and senior vice president of Gerber Scientific. Incera joined Gerber Coburn in 1995 as ...
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New Sales Strategies For Area
The Italian eyewear manufacturer Area is in the process of restructuring its sales strategy under the guidance of a new managing director, Corrado Moro, who has been previously responsible for coordinating Allison's sales in Italy and the rest of Europe. Before Allison, he worked on special projects for Bulgari's accessories ...
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Brulimar Introduces A Children's Collection
Brulimar Optical is launching a new children's collection for its most successful licensed brand in the U.K.: Bench. At the coming SILMO show in October the British manufacturer will be showcasing a collection for boys and girls from 6 to 15 years old. Bench Kids will have 22 models, all ...
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Bertoni Opens In The United States
Known for its expertise in motorbike accessories, Bertoni diversified into the eyewear sector six years ago. Bertoni Eyewear has now launched its sports eyewear in the USA, with headquarters in New York and offices and warehouse currently under construction in Miami. Bertoni Eyewear USA was established to oversee the Italian ...
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Crown Eyeglass Expands In Europe
Crown Eyeglass, a British eyewear retailer that already has scores of franchisees in Sweden, has moved further into the rest of Europe by recruiting new franchisees in Norway and Spain. The stores in Larvik and Moraira should be followed by others in these two countries, and the retailer is exploring ...
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Luxottica Moves To Capture More Of Lower End Of The Market
Luxottica has widened its price range toward the lower end of the U.S. market to tackle a drop in retail sales resulting from slower store traffic and from the fact that customers are buying fewer frames. But even in such a difficult business environment the group managed to boost profitability ...
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Safilo Cuts Full-year Guidance, Financial Situation Worsens
Safilo's release of first-half results caused a stir among the financial community while the world's second-largest eyewear company trimmed its growth forecast for full-year sales to around 4 percent from a previous forecast of 7-8 percent, assuming constant currency exchange rates Gross operating profit (EBITDA) is now seen reaching ...
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Marcolin Has Good Growth Outside Italy
While boosting its profit margins, Marcolin increased its revenues by 3.6 percent to €107.7 million in the first six months of the year as growth in international sales offset a decline in Italy. At constant currency rates, turnover rose by 7.7 percent. Italian sales fell by 10.1 percent to ...
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Hoya Sees Lower Vision Care Sales
Hoya's sales of eyeglass lenses increased by 10.3 percent in Europe and by 7.7 percent in Japan during the first quarter ended June 30, but they fell by 10.8 percent in Japan and by 14.4 percent in the USA. For the current second quarter, the Japanese company expects them to ...
