All Retail articles
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ArticleKrys adds Even Realities G2 to its growing smart eyewear stable
Krys Group, France’s top optical retailer, has become the first national chain to carry the Even Realities G2 display glasses. This will be its third proposition in smart eyewear, after the Meta models (Ray-Ban and Oakley) and its own private-label model. According to its announcement of June 4, Krys will ...
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Nexeye opens 750th European store
Nexeye, the Dutch-based operator of the Hans Anders, eyes + more and Direkt Optik retail chains, has announced the opening of its 750th store in Gothenburg, Sweden, last week. Under the ownership of KKR since 2024, the group is planning to expand its European footprint from over 700 stores currently ...
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Lenskart-owned Meller expands retail presence in Europe
Meller, the Spanish direct-to-consumer sunglasses brand taken over by Lenskart last year, has opened its first store in Paris, located in the Marais district of the French capital. Originally a pure online player, Meller is quickly shifting to an omnichannel business model under the Indian retail giant’s leadership. In recent ...
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Belgian eyewear consultation software start-up raises €1.4 million
Brussels-based start-up Ditar has announced the closing of a €1.4 million seed financing round led by ScaleFund, with participation from other Belgian investors. The company said the funding will accelerate its international expansion, particularly in the US market. Ditar is best known for Optisuite, a tablet-based software used during in-store ...
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Magrabi Retail Group signs third M&A deal in as many years
Magrabi Retail Group has announced its third M&A transaction in as many years: the planned acquisition of a 51 percent stake in Baraka Optics Group, a premium optical retailer operating 23 stores in Egypt under the Baraka Optics, C&Co., and People banners. This move follows the acquisitions of Rivoli Group ...
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Lenskart takes aim at Ray‑Ban Meta in India with cheaper AI glasses.
Lenskart is launching B by Lenskart, its private‑label AI‑glasses platform, in India, its home market. The glasses come equipped with a Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chipset, a 12 MP camera, open‑ear speakers and microphones, and run Google Gemini 2.5 Live as the built‑in AI assistant. They weigh 45 grams, and ...
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Warby Parker launches new sport collection
Warby Parker is launching Warby Parker Sport, a new eyewear range that “bridges the gap between everyday style and sport-specific functionality.” Made in Italy, the collection includes five designs fitted with polarized lenses available in three colors (gray, rosewood and brown). The glasses retail at $195 with plano lenses, $295 ...
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ArticleSynsam aims to expand international outreach with 'major' investment in Haaland partnership
Synsam Group is partnering with Norwegian football star Erling Haaland for the launch of an eyewear collection including prescription eyewear, sunglasses and sport glasses. The Erlind Haaland Eyewear Collection-branded range will include a total of 64 different frames for women, men and children, as well as a capsule collection of ...
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Zoff partners with school uniform suppliers in Japan
Japanese optical retailer Zoff is partnering with Akashi School Uniform Company, a supplier of school uniforms and workwear, to supply sunglasses to students at Kōbun Gakuen Girls’ School in Osaka Prefecture. The sunglasses, featuring a 20 percent lens tint, were first selected and approved by teachers from within Zoff’s existing ...
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JINS invests in Tokyo, the Philippines
JINS opened last week its largest store in Shinjuku, one of Tokyo’s busiest districts, less than one month after launching another flagship store in Ginza. The new location spans three floors with a total area of 945 square meters and offers the company’s full range of eyeglasses, sunglasses, and contact ...
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Lenskart embroiled in religious controversy
Lenskart, India’s leading eyewear retailer, faced backlash last week after a leaked internal grooming policy document surfaced online. It allegedly banned Hindu religious symbols like the bindi (forehead dot) and tilak (mark on forehead) for store staff while permitting hijabs and other attire, sparking accusations of anti-Hindu bias and calls ...
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Eyes + More switches to 1.6 as default lens index
Eyes + More, a retail chain of the Dutch-based Nexeye group, will fit all its new glasses with standard 1.6 refractive index lenses from today onwards. “This challenges the long-standing industry practice of charging extra for thinner lenses and sets a new standard for the industry,” the company said, stressing ...
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MiÓptico acquires Cecop’s French business
MiÓptico has acquired the business of Cecop in France, Modas en Gafas first reported. With these additional 400 independent opticians, the buying group will exceed 1,000 members. Founded in 2017 by Florent Carrière, a French optician with previous experiences at Carrefour optical stores and Afflelou, MiÓptico operates both as a ...
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Fielmann creates optometry advisory board in the US
Fielmann Group has established an Optometry Advisory Board to provide its US subsidiary with strategic guidance and medical expertise, and to “translate Fielmann’s patient-centric philosophy to the US market.” The advisory board is chaired by Dr. Howard Purcell, President and CEO of the New England College of Optometry (NECO) and ...
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ArticleJINS finds 'second growth engine' overseas as domestic business disappoints
JINS HOLDINGS lowered its full-year outlook for fiscal 2025/26 (ending Aug. 31) after first-half results showed a mixed performance: double-digit revenue growth but a sharp drop in domestic profitability. Full-year revenue is now expected to grow 13.5% year on year to ¥110.3 billion (€591m), down from a previously forecast 14.9% ...
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EssilorLuxottica invests in leading Thai optical retailer
EssilorLuxottica has acquired a “meaningful stake” in Top Charoen, the leading optical retailer in Thailand and a longtime customer. The term usually refers to a a significant minority ownership position, typically 10-25% of a company’s shares, that provides strategic influence without full control. Founded in 1947, Top Charoen ...
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ArticleKRYS GROUP grows market share, launches own smart eyewear brand
KRYS GROUP has reported a 4.9 percent year‑on‑year increase in optical sales to €1,457 million (including VAT) for 2025. The company stressed that it has thus consolidated its leadership position in France, lifting its market share to a record high 18.8 percent (see table). It calculates that the French optical ...
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Atol announces ambitious midterm objectives after flattish 2025 performance
French voluntary retail group Atol has reported €468 million in annual sales for 2025, flattish from the €465 million in 2024. Recent estimates by research companies GfK and Xerfi have put the optical market growth in France last year at around 1-2 percent. We calculate that Atol sales grew at ...
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JINS opens AI-equipped, multilingual flagship store in Tokyo's Ginza
Jins Holdings is launching a flagship eyewear store in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district, incorporating a multilingual (Japanese, Chinese, English) generative AI system to assist customers—especially foreign tourists—in selecting glasses. Opening on Saturday, the 456-square-meter location spans two floors, featuring 700 eyewear models. The basement floor offers advanced vision-testing equipment with ...
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ArticleMister Spex turnaround plan yields higher margins but break-even still distant
Quality over quantity, offline over online, premium prescription eyewear over sunglasses and Germany over international markets; the shift in priorities introduced in the summer of 2024 by the new management team has started to pay off in 2025 with significant margin improvements, Mister Spex stressed in its full-year financial results ...
