All Retail articles
-
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 ...
-
News briefs
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 ...
-
News briefs
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 ...
-
News briefs
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 ...
-
News briefs
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 ...
-
News briefs
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 ...
-
News briefs
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 ...
-
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% ...
-
News briefs
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
News briefs
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 ...
-
News briefs
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
News briefsLeading French retailer unveils new store concept
Krys, France’s leading optical retailer, is unveiling Twice, a new store concept designed to “redefine the customer experience” and “revolutionize optical and hearing aid retail.” At the center of the concept is the Studio, a carousel-shaped space offering multiple experiences: personalized eyewear styling based on face shape, a “lens bar” ...
-
ArticleAFFLELOU slows down in Q2
AFFLELOU GROUP network sales increased by 2.5 percent to €244.9 million in Q2 FY2026, decelerating from the 5 percent growth reported for the first quarter and for FY2024. All markets, France, Spain and Other Countries saw their growth pace roughly halved quarter on quarter. The franchisor group ended ...
-
ArticleAI startup takes aim at eyewear e-tail shortcomings
Eyvero.AI, a Balkans-based IT startup, is launching several AI-powered tools, covering areas such as virtual try-on, or rather “anatomic immersion” as the company puts it, progressive lens fitting analysis, and the creation of digital frame images and marketing materials. Eyvero.AI was founded by Artem Yukhnovskiy and Vladimir Meniailenko, two ...
-
ArticleNIDEK modernizes refraction with lens-free, open-field system
In daily life, people naturally have an open-field vision environment with their two eyes open, so shouldn’t it be the same when they have their visual acuity checked? The answer to that question lies at the heart of PHANTOM, NIDEK’s new refraction system, with which the company is aiming to ...
-
News briefs
Synsam adds new house brand, plans to double Swedish plant output this year
Only a few weeks after the launch of Isak.V, Synsam Group has announced the creation of Alicia Lind, a new house brand made in its in Swedish factory in Frösön. The new brand’s first collection includes 14 ophthalmic frames retailing at 2,500 Swedish crowns (€234), and six sunglasses (SEK 1,500 ...
-
News briefs
European software suppliers partner to simplify optical shops order management
OCUCO, EVEX/OPTIC and Neox-IT, three practice management software suppliers respectively based in Ireland, Germany and France, are partnering in the UK to simplify access to suppliers’ catalogs and order processes for opticians in the country. The integration is made through iZyCoreConnect, a platform developed by IZySolutions, NeoX-IT’s parent company. The ...
-
News briefs
Alain Afflelou launches audio glasses private label
Alain Affelou is launching Magic Connect, a pair of modular audio glasses, across its retail network in France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxemburg and Portugal. Weighing 30 grams and connected by Bluetooth to a nearby smartphone, the glasses integrate touch pads, speakers and a microphone for audio functionalities such as placing ...
