Latest Headlines – Page 67
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State Optical buys AO Eyewear
State Optical, a U.S. manufacturer of luxury eyewear, has acquired AO Eyewear from Alan McKinley, the owner and president of the company, who remains as general manager. No financial details were released.The takeover will enable State Optical's expertise in acetate frames to be combined with AO's know-how in the production ...
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A preview of Silmo 2019
This year's edition of the Silmo Paris optical fair, taking place on Sept. 27-30 at its usual venue near one of the city's airports, will see the return of important companies such as Alain Mikli and Hoya, the confirmation of De Rigo Vision's presence after its latest comeback, and the ...
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Invu launches a new “Magic Mirror”
The Swiss Eyewear Group has incorporated recent advances in liquid-crystal display (LCD) technology into a new mirror for the optician's sales floor that should attract many customers. Its so-called “Magic Mirror” simulates better than before the experience of wearing its Invu sunglasses with ultra-polarized lenses. It will be one of ...
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A look at Vanni’s “cultural” approach
Vanni is the Turin-based firm of Giovanni Vitaloni, president of Anfao, the Italian optical industry association, and the brand name under which the firm entered the eyewear market 28 years ago. The firm's other, more sophisticated house brand is Derapage.Vanni sells 125,000 to 130,000 frames per year at €180 to ...
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Big new contract for Oakley with the NFL
Oakley has signed a four-year deal in the U.S. with the National Football League (NFL). According to Renie Anderson, the NFL's chief revenue officer and executive vice president of partnerships, the deal took two years to negotiate. It is also the largest ever signed by the Californian eyewear brand, which ...
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Alcon’s vision care sales rise by 6% currency-neutral
Alcon posted a 5 percent increase at constant exchange rates in its sales for the second quarter. On a reported basis, revenues rose by 2 percent to $1.9 billion. They generated an operating loss of $53 million compared with a $38 million profit a year earlier due to charges of ...
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CVI gets a boost from its toric lenses
The ongoing popularity of daily silicone hydrogel lenses and toric lenses lifted the results of CooperVision (CVI), which is part of The Cooper Companies, for group's fiscal third quarter ended on July 31. Revenues gained 4 percent from the year-ago quarter to $509.1 million. On a pro forma basis and ...
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CVI starts a lens recycling program in Sweden
CooperVision (CVI) has launched an initiative in Sweden that offers consumers a service for the free collection and recycling of soft contact lenses, including those of other brands and manufacturers. It aims to reduce plastic waste by providing a convenient way for wearers to recycle lenses, as well as blister ...
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Essilux confirms a long-standing plan to buy GrandVision
EssilorLuxottica and Hal Holding confirmed last Wednesday that they have reached agreement on the sale of Hal's stake of 76.72 percent in GrandVision to Essilux for the previously reported purchase price of €28.00 per share in cash.Laurent Vacherot, chief executive of Essilor, revealed that Essilor and Luxottica had already envisaged ...
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GrandVision acquires another Swiss chain
GrandVision has been growing quickly over the years through acquisitions, particularly in Europe. However, because of the anti-trust investigation that the European Union and other jurisdictions are going to launch into its planned takeover by EssilorLuxottica, group executives indicated that its external growth may slow down. GrandVision has nevertheless just ...
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GrandVision posts a strong quarter, lifted by online sales
Thanks in part to efforts to boost its omni-channel capacities, GrandVision posted strong results for the second quarter of the year, with sales jumping by 6.2 percent from the year-ago period to €1,021 million, or by 7.1 percent in constant currencies. Comparable sales advanced by 2.5 percent.The French-based optical retail ...
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Essilux reports good results
EssilorLuxottica reported a 7.3 percent increase in revenues to €8,776 million for the first half on a pro-forma basis, with growth of 3.9 percent in local currencies. The adjusted gross margin declined by 0.3 percentage points to 63.2 percent, due to the product mix and the stronger development of the ...
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Capacity issues hold up sales of Hoya’s eyeglass lenses
In a reaction to the initial rumors about EssilorLuxottica's takeover of GrandVision during the release of its latest financial results, the management of Hoya Corp. told investors that its competition with other chain stores could have a positive effect for Hoya's ophthalmic lens business.Sales of eyeglass lenses went up by ...
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Safilo loses the Dior license, Luxottica keeps Bulgari
Before publishing its latest results, the Safilo Group announced that its big, longstanding license agreement for Dior and Dior Homme eyewear will end at its scheduled expiry date of Dec. 31, 2020. The eyewear group had sought to renew the contract, but LVMH, the French fashion house which owns the ...
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Safilo books big charges but stops burning cash on accelerating sales
The Safilo Group underwent a massive clean-up of its balance sheet in the second quarter. As a result, the group posted a net loss of €246.7 million for the first half of the year compared with a €7.9 million loss a year earlier. The results cover only continuing activities and ...
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New appointments at Safilo and Blackfin
Safilo has promoted Lukasz Karpinski, 38, to country manager for Italy. He will report directly to the company's chief executive Angelo Trocchia and replaces Filippo Pustetto, who has moved to Pramaor, known for the high-end titanium-frame brand Blackfin.Born in Warsaw, Karpinski has been living in Italy since the age of ...
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Specsavers is still going strong
Thanks to an expanding designer range of glasses, hearing aids and other healthcare services, Specsavers saw its revenues improve by 6 percent to 2,780 million pounds (€3,073.8m-$3,447.4m) for its financial year ended on Feb. 28.Although the international British-based optical retail chain does not disclose profitability figures, it indicated in its ...
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Carrefour and Casino start opening optical stores
Two big French generalist retailers, Carrefour and Casino, have started opening optical retail stores, as they seek to offer additional services to attract new clients to their hypermarkets and to retain existing ones. One of their competitors, Leclerc, started doing the same more than ten years ago, diversifying into audiology.Carrefour ...
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Schneider gets a big prize, helps start-ups
Schneider Optical Machines is continuously developing more autonomous and intelligent systems for free-form production of ophthalmic lenses. Meanwhile, its Modulo concept, born in 2009 and first introduced to the market in 2013, has earned the company the coveted German Innovation Award in its category. It was given to the company's ...
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Two Spanish low-cost start-ups raise funds
A Spanish low-cost e-commerce start-up, GreyHounders, has launched a financing round to raise €100,000 by the end of the summer to reinforce its presence in its home market and expand to Portugal by the end of the year. It plans to enter the Italian, French and German markets in 2020.When ...
