All Retail articles – Page 14
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ArticleU.K., EU trade heavily affected by Brexit, worse may be ahead
Brexit has complicated life for merchants in the European Union exporting to the U.K., which highlights new paperwork requirements, higher administrative costs, delivery delays and uncertainty about what the rules of the game are now that the U.K. is no longer a member of the single market since Jan. 1. ...
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News briefs
Germans’ willingness to buy is in “freefall”
The propensity to buy of German consumers is “in freefall,” according to the think tank GfK. Hit by strict Covid-19 related lockdowns, consumer confidence in Germany is seen falling to -15.6 in February from -7.5 in January, which was revised from an original reading of -7.3. “The closure of the ...
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News briefs
Italy approves a €50 voucher for the purchase of eyeglasses, contact lenses
The Italian parliament approved on Dec. 30 the 2021 budget that includes a €50 voucher for the purchase of prescription eyewear and contact lenses for low-income people. The decree implementing the voucher still has to be issued by the health ministry, in coordination with the finance ministry. The voucher is ...
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News briefsSpy+ takes the contactless try-on to a new level
Spy+ is using Google’s Image Swirl and QR-code scanning to enable customers to try on snow goggles without ever touching them. The American action sports eyewear company, which was recently acquired by Bollé Brands, says the combination “overcomes the largest barriers to retail sales in the current shopping environment”: namely, ...
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News briefsProgression will distribute Yniq Eyewear in North America
Yniq Eyewear, the Stockholm-based brand of snow goggles and other sports eyewear products, has signed up the Progression Brands Group (PBG) as its ”operating partner” for its winter sports business in North America. Yniq, which defines itself as “THE Sports Luxury Eyewear Brand,” already has a sponsorship contract with Lindsey ...
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News briefs
5% fewer opticians in Carte Blanche’s network
Carte Blanche, the French healthcare organization that connects consumers, health insurances and healthcare professionals, has finalized its onboarding campaign for its network of partner opticians. The company announced that 7,300 optical shops in France have been referenced this year, down from about 7,700 last year. Carte Blanche said that the ...
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ArticleMister Spex expects sales to grow in 2020 and 2021
Mister Spex expects sales to grow in 2020, and again in 2021, from the €139 million posted in 2019. Last year, the German company saw its adjusted Ebitda rise to €2.0 million from €0.2 million in 2018 as it enjoyed growth in all three of its product categories, namely glasses, ...
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News briefsKlarna enters partnership with Verifone
Klarna, the Swedish online payments group which offers ”buy now, pay later” solutions, has entered a partnership with Verifone, a California-based provider of hardware products for payment processing, that will make Klarna available to millions of Verifone devices in the U.S. and Europe. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has impacted shopping ...
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News briefs
New anti-Covid measures in Germany
In concert with the governments of the individual Länder, the federal government of Germany has ordered the lockdown of all the brick-and-mortar stores that sell non-essential products, starting on Wednesday, Dec. 16. Opticians are mentioned among the few exceptions. The new restrictions came after a spike in new contaminations from ...
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ArticleEU, UK extend Brexit trade talks in effort to avoid a “no deal”
The United Kingdom and the European Union had decided to wait until Sunday, Dec. 13 to find a compromise on a trade agreement that would go into effect on Jan. 1. But, the European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the negotiators will now continue to work into this ...
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News briefs
Fielmann opens its 31st store in Italy
Fielmann opened its 31st store in Italy in the town of Parma. The 150 square-meter store has a staff of six and is located in the town’s historic center. The German retailer is expected to open at least another store in the country by the end of the year. ...
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News briefsAcuitis enters Spanish market
Acuitis has entered the Spanish market in partnership with Andres Femenia, a local businessman who previously ran a network of 50 hearing aid stores. The first Acuitis store was opened in Valencia and a further three stores are scheduled in Spain in the first quarter of 2021. The group plans ...
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ArticleCarte Blanche set to become the N°2 healthcare network in France
Carte Blanche, the French healthcare organization owned by SwissLife and other insurance companies, has extended until Dec. 11 the registration deadline for French opticians wishing to join its network, as many could not complete the process in time because of the new Covid-19 related lockdown. The company, which focuses on ...
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ArticleEdel-Optics invested €3 million in robotized Hamburg flagship
Edel-Optics has invested €3 million in its new flagship store, located at Ballindamm 33 in Hamburg, Germany. The location, opened in late November after nine months of construction, enables customers to be served by opticians or by Temi personal robots and offers a selection of 250,000 items from the integrated ...
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ArticleFrance postpones start of winter clearance period to Jan. 20
The French government has postponed to Jan. 20 the start of the winter clearance period from its initial date of Jan. 6. The clearance period will last four weeks. In radio interview with RMC/BFM TV, the Economy Minister, Bruno Le Maire, added that the measure is aimed at helping small ...
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News briefs
Happy Look launches more flagship stores in Russia
Russia’s biggest eyewear retailer, Happy Look, has opened five flagship stores. Four are located in St. Petersburg and one in Yekaterinburg. Happy Look describes its flagship stores as “megastores.” On average, they have 200 square meters of shopping space showing at least 2,000 items. But, Happy Look’s biggest flagship in ...
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Article
British delivery service fears uncontrollable Black Friday
London-based delivery service ParcelHero said that it’s forecasting an £8.49bn (€9.5bn-$11.5bn) monster Black Friday to Cyber Monday weekend. It warns that stores must learn from the disaster of Black Friday 2014 or delivery chains could snap once again this year. In 2019, Britons spent a £5.55bn (€6.2bn-$7.4bn) on Black Friday-Cyber ...
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News briefs
Pugnale opens its first flagship store
The Italian eyewear company Pugnale has opened its first flagship store. The 35 square meter shop is located in the center of Rome. Pugnale, which was created in 2013 and has its headquarters in the northeastern town of Udine, said that the store is part of a plan to develop ...
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News briefsFielmann opens 30th Italian store
Fielmann has opened its 30th store in Italy. The more than 230 square meter shop is located in the center of Mantua. The German retailer plans to open at least two additional stores in the country by the end of the year. Fielmann entered the Italian market in 2015 and ...
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News briefsSafilo launches new B2B platform in Europe
Safilo has launched a new B2B platform called You&Safilo and a new customer relationship management system with the support of the American software company Salesforce. The Italian eyewear company was also assisted by the web designer WIP Italia and by the consultancy group Accenture. You&Safilo was first launched in Italy, ...
