Latest News Briefs – Page 354
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News briefs
Vision Council of America is one of the founding members...
Vision Council of America is one of the founding members of the Worldwide Vision Coalition (WWVC), a new organization intended to foster new relationships among vision industry associations. The Italian eyewear industry association, ANFAO, is another big supporter of WWVC. The group is described as an open forum where any ...
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News briefs
The Wicks Group, an American private equity fund specializing in...
The Wicks Group, an American private equity fund specializing in the media business, has acquired Jobson Medical Information and its Jobson Publishing division, which puts out Vision Monday, 20/20, Frames Data and other vision-related and pharmaceutical publications. It also provides continuous education in the medical field. Jobson's former owners and ...
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News briefs
Eye Care Centers of America, the 377-store optical retail chain...
Eye Care Centers of America, the 377-store optical retail chain that is now controlled by Moulin International, enjoyed a 4.9 percent sales increase on a same-store basis in the financial year ended last Jan. 1. Total sales increased to $399.5 million from $369.9 million in the previous year. ECCA attributes ...
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News briefs
Safilo has approached several investment banks, including UBS, Merrill Lynch...
Safilo has approached several investment banks, including UBS, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers, in view of its planned reintroduction on the stock exchange, tentatively set for the beginning of 2006. The project reportedly goes with a renegotiation of Safilo's liabilities with various banks, which are owed a total of €460 ...
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News briefs
Sover has taken on the license for Mariella Burani eyewear...
Sover has taken on the license for Mariella Burani eyewear under a 5-year deal that calls for a 20 percent increase in annual sales for the line, which are currently at about €5 million under a 5-year-old license with Trevi Coliseum. Sover will present its first Mariella Burani collection at ...
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News briefs
François Pinton launched its first licensed eyewear collection for Martine...
François Pinton launched its first licensed eyewear collection for Martine Sitbon, the French women's wear designer, at the recent Vision Expo East fair in New York, and said that the collection had been well received. It has reported a turnover of $7 million for 2004, with a profit of $1.4 ...
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News briefs
Andrew Actman has signed a 4-year licensing deal for Hobbs,...
Andrew Actman has signed a 4-year licensing deal for Hobbs, the British retailer of women's clothing, which has over 60 stores throughout the UK. The British eyewear designer launched his first line of Reiss eyewear at the Optrafair in Birmingham a few days ago, after the successful launch of collections ...
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News briefs
Brulimar, which became the licensee for Playboy eyewear in May...
Brulimar, which became the licensee for Playboy eyewear in May 2004 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has reported phenomenal sales of the women's Playboy line that it launched on the British market in February. The company said the line was selling 350 percent above expectations, overtaking Puma and ...
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News briefs
Marchon officials have reported that the sales of its first...
Marchon officials have reported that the sales of its first licensed eyewear collection for Fendi are "unbelievable." Marchon started shipping the Fendi products to the UK market in January, and signed the licensing agreement for Fendi Europe earlier this year. The collection ? featuring stylish sunglasses and optical glasses with ...
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News briefs
Signature Eyewear has reported a net income of $141,000 for...
Signature Eyewear has reported a net income of $141,000 for its 1st fiscal quarter that ended Jan. 31, as compared to a net loss of $255,000 in the same period a year earlier. The company attributed the increase chiefly to higher gross margins and a continued reduction in selling, general ...
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News briefs
Essilor has appointed a company veteran, Bertrand Roy, as global...
Essilor has appointed a company veteran, Bertrand Roy, as global strategic marketing manager. He has served since 1999 as general manager of Essilor France, a position that will be taken up by Eric Léonard, a 38-year-old executive who joined the group three years ago to be in charge of purchasing ...
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News briefs
Shamir Optical Industry, the Israeli company that went public on...
Shamir Optical Industry, the Israeli company that went public on the NASDAQ exchange a few weeks ago, reports an 18.6 percent increase in revenues for the 12 months ended last Dec. 31. They reached $18.6 million. The gross margin grew to 53.1 percent from 50.1 percent in the previous year. ...
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News briefs
Bausch & Lomb raised its sales by 9 percent to...
Bausch & Lomb raised its sales by 9 percent to $554.3 million in the first quarter ended March 26, with a 6 percent gain in local currencies. The biggest growth was recorded in lens care products, with increases of 13 percent in dollars and 11 percent in local currencies, but ...
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News briefs
Advanced Medical Optics and VISX have set May 26 as...
Advanced Medical Optics and VISX have set May 26 as the date for approval of their merger by their respective shareholders. Those of AMO will hold about 58.8 percent of the equity of the newly combined company, and those of VISX the rest. VISX' net profit rose to $14.7 million ...
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News briefs
At this year's MIDO, the Vision Council of America will...
At this year's MIDO, the Vision Council of America will present a research study and preview the trends dominating the US market on Saturday May 7, at 2.30 pm. It will present the Vision Watch Consumer Survey carried out in the USA by VCA and Jobson in 2004. This is ...
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News briefs
Moulin International has completed the acquisition of Eye Care Centers...
Moulin International has completed the acquisition of Eye Care Centers of America (ECCA), the 378-store optical retail chain in the USA. It has struck a supply agreement with the company that calls for closer cooperation, without imposing any specific purchase requirements. Dave McComas remains as chairman and CEO of ECCA ...
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News briefs
NiGuRa Optik has changed its name into NiGuRa Metzler Optik,...
NiGuRa Optik has changed its name into NiGuRa Metzler Optik, still under the management of Helmut Otto. Its warehousing and logistic operations will be transferred to Metzler's European distribution center in the Czech Republic. On the other hand, the data processing apparatus of NiGuRa, a former property of Rodenstock, will ...
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News briefs
Boots will be opening a 2,700-square-foot flagship store on London's...
Boots will be opening a 2,700-square-foot flagship store on London's high-traffic Oxford Street, at Sedley Place, which will include a Boots Opticians section. Meanwhile, Howard Dodd will leave the group, where he acts now as chief financial officer and as a director, after the publication of the annual results on ...
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News briefs
Permira is looking at various options for the re-sale of...
Permira is looking at various options for the re-sale of some or all of its 85 percent stake in Rodenstock, as an audit of its 2004 accounts has indicated that its financial recovery has been basically completed, but it's under no time pressure to do so. Aside from a possible ...
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News briefs
Frédéric Mathieu has been designated to succeed Eric Bernard as...
Frédéric Mathieu has been designated to succeed Eric Bernard as CEO of Essilor Australia/New Zealand, starting July 1. Before that, he will run the company's operations in New Zealand, following the departure of Robert Broadbridge. Bernard is being promoted to new responsibilities after four years in his present post, where ...
