Latest Headlines – Page 4
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ArticleGuenther Fielmann has died
Fielmann Group has announced the passing of Guenther Fielmann, founder of the company and longstanding chairman of the board, on Jan. 3, 2024, at the age of 84. “My father Guenther Fielmann re-defined optical retail to the benefit of customers. His lifework fills us with respect and inspires us to ...
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Article“We need to train the eyewear factory workers of the future”
During our previous interview with Giovanni Vitolani in December, the president of Mido also shared some thoughts on the state of affairs in the Italian eyewear district and at ANFAO, the Italian eyewear industry association which he led for six years until December last year. “As anticipated after a solid ...
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ArticleAI comes to Meta and Ray-Ban’s smart glasses
Meta is providing “early access” in the US to multimodal AI in the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses – the equivalent of a beta launch for software. The company is seeking feedback from customers, presumably to help tune the AI. Customers can opt in through the latest version of the Meta ...
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ArticleZEISS Consumer Markets unit up 5% in fiscal year, group topline over €10 bn
ZEISS Group has reported record revenue of €10.1 billion for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, up by 15 percent compared with 2021/22 and over the symbolic €10 bn mark for the first time. As shown in the table below, the group’s growth was largely driven by its semiconductor business ...
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ArticleOpti gets ready for a 2024 rebound
The numerous changes and initiatives implemented after a difficult edition of the show earlier this year, including a roundtable with stakeholders to rethink the concept this summer, seem to have paid off as opti has announced a significant increase in both exhibiting space and exhibitors’ participation for their 2024 edition. ...
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ArticleMido, ANFAO put CSE front and center in 2024
Just a few weeks before the opening of Mido 2024, we sat down with Giovanni Vitaloni, president of the event, to talk about what exhibitors and visitors should expect for this next edition but also more generally about current and future strategic focus areas for the organizers. In the second ...
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ArticleMitsui aims to boost its Life & Healthcare business’ profits by 2030
During its Vision 2030 business strategy presentation held earlier this week, Mitsui Chemicals has announced that it was planning to increase the operating profit of its Life & Healthcare Solutions division from 36 billion Japanese yen (€229 m) in the current fiscal year to ¥65 billion (€413 m) in fiscal ...
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ArticleDouble-digit sales growth but lower margin in full year for Carl Zeiss Meditec
Carl Zeiss Meditec has reported a 9.8 percent year-on-year increase in revenue to €2,089 for its full fiscal year ended Sept. 30. In constant currencies, the topline was up by 10.1 percent with market share gains in both business units - ophthalmic devices and microsurgery. The company stressed that it ...
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ArticleCooperVision slowed down by production capacity limitations
CooperCompanies has reported an 11 percent year-on-year revenue increase to $622.9 million for its CooperVision division in the last quarter of its 2023 fiscal year ended Sept. 30. Quarterly sales of contact lenses were up by 9 percent at constant exchange rates and by 11 percent organically compared with Q4 ...
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ArticleKarün Eyewear to get a Walmart boost
Karün Eyewear, the Chile-based brand of eyewear made from recycled and traceable materials, has signed a nationwide, but non-exclusive, partnership with Walmart for the distribution of its frames in the U.S. retail giant’s Walmart Vision Centers. ”We chose to work with Walmart as our U.S. national retailer to expand access ...
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ArticleReport puts fresh numbers on German optical retail long-term trends
Zentralverband der Augenoptiker und Optometristen (ZVA), the German association of opticians and optometrists, has released the four-year update of its BranchenStrukturerhebung report, an analysis of the German optical retail sector’s structure put together with research company GFK. It provides a number of market indicators for the year 2022 and, for ...
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ArticleMagrabi aims to consolidate regional leadership before entering new markets
Following up on our article last February about the expansion of MAGRABI Retail Group, the leading optical retailer in the Middle East region, we talked with Yasser Taher, who was appointed CEO of the family-owned group at the start of this year, after having served as Chief Operating Officer since ...
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ArticleShamir launches myopia management lens
Shamir Optical Industry, the Israeli-based lens manufacturer, has announced the launch of Optimee, its first lens in the child myopia management segment. The launch follows the first-year results of a clinical trial with 126 children in Israel which showed that the new lens slowed by 43 percent the axial elongation ...
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ArticleSmart glasses win at CES 2024
Four pairs of smart-eyewear are among the winners of the latest Innovation Awards from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), whose 2024 edition is scheduled for Jan. 9-12, 2024, in Las Vegas. Ampere First up – in alphabetical order by company – is Dusk Rx, which the producer, Ampere, describes as ...
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ArticleANFAO taps Lorraine Berton as new president
Lorraine Berton has been elected as the new president of Italian eyewear association ANFAO, becoming the first woman to hold the position and succeeding Giovanni Vitaloni, who had served as president since 2017. Berton will lead the association for the next four years. Berton is the co-owner along with her ...
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ArticleAfflelou Group ends fiscal year on a strong Q4
Afflelou Group ended its fiscal year with a strong fourth quarter as network sales grew by 8.1 percent year-on-year to €232.9 million, accelerating from the 4.2 percent growth reported in the previous quarter. The uptick was particularly noticeable in France as sales grew by 7.3 percent year-on-year in Q4, compared ...
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ArticleAn optical center in 15 minutes and a new investor for Vision Group
Vision Group, one of Italy’s leading eyewear retailers, aims to expand its domestic footprint further before looking at eventual growth opportunities further afield. Marco Procacciante, CEO, talked to Eyewear Intelligence about Vision Group’s growth plans, which are aimed at serving 85 percent of the Italian population with a VisionOttica store ...
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ArticleSynsam improves margins, expands EyeView roll out
For the first time since the company went public in October 2021, Synsam Group fell short of reporting a double-digit increase in quarterly sales, however not by much as the group’s topline grew by 9.9 percent year-on-year to 1,450 million Swedish crowns (€127m) in Q3. While this confirms the company’s ...
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ArticleEssilorLuxottica integrates Bliz to sports portfolio
EssilorLuxottica has announced the integration of BLIZ, a brand of sport eyewear, snow goggles and helmets, in its sport portfolio which already includes Oakley and Costa. The brand was previously owned by Future Eyewear, a Swedish-based eyewear company selling and distributing other brands like Dr. Zipe (sport eyewear), Prestige (sunglasses) ...
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ArticleNational Vision moves to offset Walmart divorce impact, on track to meet FY guidance
National Vision announced steps to offset the impact on profits of the previously announced end of its partnership with retailing giant Walmart next year, as it released third-quarter results showing it remains on track to meet full-year guidance despite a macroeconomic environment described as “challenging”. Starting in 2024, the company ...
