Latest News Briefs – Page 5
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News briefs
Japanese midsized optical retail group changes hands
Kitamura Holdings, the Japanese group operating the Kitamura Camera retail chain, is branching out into eyewear retailing with the full acquisition of E2 Care Holdings. The optical retail group boasts a network of 200 optical and hearing aids stores with three chains: Vision Megane (101 stores, mostly in the Kansai ...
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News briefs
87% of Canadian buy their eyeglasses in stores, TVC survey finds
Roughly half (47 percent) of Canadian prescription glasses wearers purchased eyewear within the last year, according to the Q1 and Q2 report by The Vision Council (TVC). In-person shopping is largely preferred by Canadians (87 percent), in part because a third (34 percent) of online buyers switched by to brick-and-mortar ...
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News briefs
Design Eyewear Group appoints manager for its new license business
Design Eyewear Group (DEG) has recruited Oscar Klinckenberg to lead its newly created licensed brands unit after the company took over parts of Menrad Germany’s portfolio. Klinckenberg is a seasoned eyewear industry executive with years of experience in the retail sector at companies such as EyeCare Groep, Eye Wish Opticiens ...
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News briefs
Authentic Brands Group acquires Guess? IP
Authentic Brands Group (ABG) has announced the acquisition of a controlling ownership interest in “substantially all of the intellectual property of Guess?.” Practically, the US group is acquiring a 51 percent stake in a new entity that will take over Guess? intellectual property, with the remaining 49 percent owned by ...
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News briefsZeiss renews partnership with Chinese smartphone brand
Zeiss – through Zeiss Mobile Imaging – has renewed the imaging partnership it established in 2020 with Vivo, the Chinese brand of Android smartphones. The companies will be expanding beyond smartphones to what they call a “comprehensive and open imaging ecosystem.” So far they have collaborated on lenses (Zeiss Optics), ...
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News briefs
Eyes + More appoints experienced retail manager to expand in Sweden
Nexeye has appointed Nina Wyholt Gradin as Head of Expansion Sweden for its Eyes + More retail chain to accelerate its growth in the country. This is a new position at the company. Wyholt Gradin, a seasoned retail manager, joins the company from Kronans Apotek where she has served as ...
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News briefs
HOYA kicks off SBTI certification process
HOYA Corporation has submitted a commitment letter to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI), a first step towards the certification by the international climate association.The Japanese group said that it was aiming to establish near-term greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets in line with the 1.5°C framework established under the Paris ...
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News briefs
SightGlass Vision DOT lenses used by 1 million children
SightGlass Vision, the EssilorLuxottica and CooperVision joint venture, has announced that its Diffusion Optics Technology (DOT) myopia management lenses have been worn by one million children globally since the launch in 2021. The lenses are currently available in China, the Netherlands, Israel, Canada and Spain, with ongoing market trials in ...
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News briefs
Paris Miki Q1 sales down 2.0 % as customer base shrinks faster than prices increase
Paris Miki reported a 1.9 percent year-on-year decline in sales to 12.5 billion Japanese yen (€73m) for the first quarter of its new fiscal year started on April 30, 2025. Sales were down by 1.3 percent in Japan, which account for almost 90 percent of total revenue, and by 7.0 ...
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News briefs
National Vision revamps main retail brand
As part of its overall corporate rebranding, National Vision has announced a “monumental visual brand transformation” for America’s Best, its main retail banner with over 950 stores in the US. The revamp includes a new logo and a complete brand identity overhaul “that will captivate customers across all media touchpoints,” ...
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News briefs
AI glasses from another smartphone company
Taiwanese smart-phone brand HTC is entering the market for smart glasses, with the Vive Eagle. This model is available for order but going on sale on Sept. 1, in Taiwan only, at a price of 15,600 Taiwan new dollars (€444). Originally a VR platform developed by HTC and a company ...
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News briefs
Research company puts Saudi Arabian eyewear market at $3.3bn in 2033
The Saudi Arabian eyewear market – including prescription glasses, contact lenses and sunglasses – is expected to grow from $1.9 billion in 2024 to $3.3 billion in 2033 according to a new report by Research and Markets. The value increase corresponds to a 6.4 percent compound annual growth rate. The ...
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News briefs
Vuzix counts on AI/AR convergence in smart glasses to take off
Vuzix Q2 revenue was up by 19 percent year on year to $1.3 million, driven by increased sales of its M400 smart glasses. Net loss for the period amounted to $7.7 million, down significantly from $40.7 million a year before, in part thanks to the continued implementation of cost control ...
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News briefs
Mitsui sees firm demand for vision care materials continue
Mitsui Chemicals’ Life & Healthcare Solutions division reported Q1 sales of 56.3 billion Japanese yen (€327m), down by 0.3 percent from the same quarter last year due in part to currency headwinds. The division includes the Japanese group’s vision care materials along with other product categories such as oral care ...
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News briefs
US tariffs, currency headwinds weigh heavily on TOG’s Q2 performance
Thai Optical Group (TOG) revenue dropped by 8.2 percent year on year to 877 million thai bath (€23.2m) in Q2, with all key markets reporting declining sales. Sales in North America and EMEA were down by 2.3 percent versus Q2 2023, while steeper declines were reported for Asia-Pacific (-23.3 percent) ...
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News briefs
Menicon flattish in Q1 as dailies sales uptick offsets orho-k slump
Menicon vision care sales inched up by 0.6 percent year on year to 30.2 billion Japanese yen (€176m) in the first quarter of the company’s FY2025-26, as a good performance in the daily contact lenses category offset a double-digit drop in ortho-k revenue. In constant currencies, the division’s topline was ...
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News briefs
Carl Zeiss Meditec Q3 revenue up 3.5%, but US tariffs and dollar pinch
Carl Zeiss Meditec consolidated revenue for the quarter ended June 30 (Q3) increased by 1.9 percent year on year to €549.6 million, or by 3.5 percent at constant exchange rates. Q3 revenue from the Ophthalmology unit inched up by 1.6 percent at constant rates to €442.9 million while Microsurgery sales ...
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News briefs
Higher average ticket sales drive Zoff’s double-digit topline growth
Japanese retail group Zoff H1 revenue amounted to 24.0 billion yen (€140m), up 10.1 percent from the previous year. Domestic sales, which account for 98 percent of the group’s total business, rose at the same pace, while the marginal overseas revenue was up 7.0 percent. In Q2, total sales increased ...
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News briefs
Specsavers to invest £5m in UK lab to support growing domestic sales
Specsavers has announced that it will invest £5 million (€5.8m) in its Vision Labs lens production unit in Worcestershire, UK. The two-year investment plan is aimed at increasing production capacity from 140,000 to over 200,000 lenses per week and upgrading the site’s environmental performance through reduced water and increased electricity ...
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News briefs
Alcon to acquire ICL eyewear surgery specialist for $1.5bn
Alcon has announced the acquisition of STAAR Surgical, a California-based refractive surgery company that specializes in Implantable Collamer Lenses (ICLs), a light surgery technology aimed at patients with moderate to high myopia, with or witout astigmatism. The group will purchase all outstanding shares of STAAR at a 51 percent premium ...
