All Retail articles
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ArticleNew owner for Nexeye retail group
Global investment firm KKR will become the new majority shareholder of Nexeye, the Dutch-based retail group operating the Hans Anders, Eyes + More and Direkt Optik chains, acquiring it from 3i, another investment fund that owned the company since 2017. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval, but it does ...
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EssilorLuxottica closes Washin’s acquisition
EssilorLuxottica has officially confirmed that it closed the acquisition of Japanese retail chain Washin, on which we reported in February already, following the approval of Japanese competition authorities. The Italo-French group said that this acquisition paved the way for further investments in Japan and would provide greater insights on the ...
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Specsavers founder interviewed by FT
“I’m quite happy about it and I [shall] go on working for as long as I want to.” This is how Mary Perkins, 80, co-founder of Specsavers with her husband Doug, concluded her interview with the Financial Times, referring to their decision to place the company in a family trust ...
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Lenskart starts rolling out Le Petit Lunetier in India
Following its $4 million investment in Le Petit Lunetier last year, Lenskart has launched the French eyewear brand in 50 of its 1,500+ stores across India. A selection of Le Petit Lunetier models are being present with a shop-in-shop style concept including separate visual merchandising for the brand. Peyush Bansai, ...
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ArticleTwo top-ten German optical retailers join forces to take over Edel-Optics
Optiker Bode and ROTTLER, two family-owned and historical optical retail chains respectively based in Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, are joining forces to take over Edel-Optics, an online optical retail pionneer in both Germany and Europe. Founded in 2009, the company had filed for insolvency proceedings in February. Edel-Optics has ...
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News briefs
New director for Lissac
Lissac, the premium retail chain of the Optic 2000 group, has announced the appointment of Anne-Charlotte Guillaud as its new director. A trained optician, Guillaud boasts 18 years of experience in the French optical retail market with previous experiences at Atol and Optic 2000. She joined Lissac in 2019 and ...
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News briefsNexeye launches in-store “Show Don’t Tell” app
Dutch-based retail group Nexeye and tech company Ditar have developped Show Don’t Tell, an app to help the employees and customers of optical stores select frames and lenses by providing a preview of all possible options on the screen of a tablet. The app is being progressively rolled out at ...
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French Optique Lafayette plans to triple retail footprint by 2028
Optique Lafayette, a French optical retail chain with 48 stores at the end of 2023, has announced plans to open 20 new locations this year and grow its network to a total of 150 shops in the next five years. The company is also introducing a teleophthalmology service at its ...
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Revo opens first store in the US, has plans for more
Following the opening of a first brick-and-mortar store in Barcelona last year, US-based sunglass brand Revo has opened a second one in New York. Located in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood, the new store displays the complete range of Revo products, also including custom prescription sunglasses, limited edition styles and collector items. ...
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ArticleEssilorLuxottica expands retail partnership with Reliance Brands in India
EssilorLuxottica is expanding the scope ot its partnership with India’s Reliance Brands, which is taking over the development of the LensCrafters banner and the managing of its franchising network in the country. The development of the LensCrafters franchise was previously in the hands of DLF Brands and a first store ...
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French families rank their favorite optical chains
“Marques et familles” (Brands & Families), a French marketing organization researching French families’ favorite brands in different sectors, has released the results of the 10th edition of its survey which was based on a poll with close to 2,000 families at the end of 2023. In the optical retail category, ...
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ArticleEssilorLuxottica acquires Japanese retail chain
EssilorLuxottica is about to deploy its full-scale vertical-integration business model in Japan. We have learned that the Italo-French group has acquired the business of Washin Optical, a Japanese mid-size optical retailer founded in 1951, through its Luxottica Japan subsidiary. The information has not been officially announced by the group yet, ...
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News briefsSpecsavers Canada store network reaches 100 locations
Specsavers has announced the opening of its 100th store in Canada, less than three years after it entered the country with the acquisition of Image Optometry, an independent retailer in British Columbia. The UK-based optical retail group said that its Canadian network now includes more than 200 optometrists, 250 opticians ...
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News briefsKrys joins the second-hand market
Krys has become the exclusive lens supplier for Seecly, the online marketplace for the sale of second-hand, reconditioned or old frames. Seecly is headquartered in France, operating there and in five other European countries. It appears from the company’s website, however, that its vendors must conduct their business from France. ...
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News briefsWalmart introduces virtual try-ons
This month Walmart is inaugurating what it calls Optical Virtual Try-On (VTO), making the system available on both its app and its website. There will be a “Try them on” flag on or near the main image on the product page for any of about 750 items. Once they’ve clicked ...
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News briefsMPG is closing its Belgian retail operations
Following reports from the Belgian retail trade press, Michael Ksela, CEO of Retail Optical Stores Netherlands, the company operating the Eye Wish retail chain, has confirmed that Retail Optical Stores Belgium, the entity behind the 35 Grand Optical stores in the country, has filed for bankruptcy proceedings. The two structures ...
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ArticleFielmann remains committed to Italian market after closures announcement
After reports in the Italian press at the end of last year that Fielmann was preparing to shut down 11 of its 54 stores in the country, the German-based retail group confirmed some closures but remains intent on developing its network in the country. “Fielmann reaffirms commitment to the Italian ...
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National Vision signs distribution partnership with DTC brand
National Vision has announced the signing of a distribution partnership with Pair Eyewear, a U.S. direct-to-consumer brand that offers eyeglasses - starting from $60 with single-vision lenses - and sunglasses with customizable fronts for children and adults, including capsule collections with brands such as NBA, Harry Potter or Coca-Cola. The ...
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Krys Group launches full OFG lens range
KRYS GROUP has announced that CODIR, its industrial and logistics subsidiary located outside Paris, was launching a complete range of Origine France Garantie (OFG)-certified lenses. More rigorous than the Made in France marking, the OFG certification guarantees that at least 50 percent of the product’s added value was acquired in ...
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News briefsNew Salmoiraghi & Viganò store highlights Essilux retail sustainability program
EssilorLuxottica has announced that its new Salmoiraghi & Viganò store opened in Milan at the end of last year was being considered for the WELL certification, a standard that “creates and certifies spaces that advance human health and well-being” according to the organization’s website. The new shop, located in the ...
