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Slight profitability decline for Specsavers in 2021/22 as investments resumed
According to the Specavers group’s official financial filings to the U.K. commerce register, the optical retail giant has seen its operating profits increase marginally to £449 million (€520 m) in the fiscal year ended Feb. 28, 2022, from £445 million (€513 m) in the previous year. However, as total revenue ...
Synsam keeps double-digit sales’ growth pace but profit ratios decline
Reporting on its performance during the third quarter of 2022, the Synsam Group said that it increased its market share in a weak consumer market, with sales growing double-digits, and that it continued to invest for future growth, which led to a reduction in profit ratios.
Warby Parker adjusts outlook upwards after beating guidance in Q3
Warby Parker tweaked its guidance for the full year, raising it slightly after achieving third quarter results that were moderately above expectations but maintaining a cautious outlook due to inflation, shifts in consumer demand and lingering Covid-19 pandemic effects.
Afflelou sales up 2 percent for the year despite Q4 slowdown
The Afflelou group has reported a 1.9 percent year-on-year increase in network sales for its fiscal year ended July 31, with low single-digit hikes in its two main markets, France and Spain. The group stressed that the annual growth in sales was achieved in spite of a temporary decline in ...
Optiswiss maintains focus on ECPs, innovation and premium products
In an interview with Eyewear Intelligence, Samuel Frei, CEO of Optiswiss, sheds light on how the Swiss-based independent lens maker navigates an increasingly consolidated optical market with a strategy based on a focus on premium products, distribution through independent eyecare professionals (ECPs), state-of-the-art production facilities, investment in new technologies and ...
Marcolin to invest $250 m in TOM FORD perpetual license
The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) have announced the acquisition of the TOM FORD in a deal that values the luxury brand at $2.8 billion and also involves the Ermenegildo Zegna Group and Marcolin through long-term license agreements, for fashion products and eyewear products, respectively. The transaction is expected to close ...
Morel puts focus on direct distribution, brand heritage and CSR
In an interview with Eyewear Intelligence, Amélie Morel, communication director of Morel Lunettes, explained how the family-owned company has taken advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to accelerate the transformation of its international business, and has reinforced its focus on the brand’s heritage as well as its CSR commitments.
Skugga to launch new financing rounds to accelerate development
In the wake of Skugga’s recent Silmo d’Or award in the technological innovation and connected products’ category, we spoke with Mikael Eriksson, the Swedish-based company’s CEO and one of the main shareholders along with his brothers Daniel Eriksson, Jonas Eriksson and partner Fredrik Hanson. The brothers initially started off with ...
Izipizi launches sleep-facilitating glasses
Izipizi is launching Sleeping, a pair of glasses fitted with special lenses that are said to enhance the production of the melatonin hormone and thus reduce the time needed by wearers to fall asleep. The company said that it has developed a specific technology for the plano lenses, called Goodnight, ...
Snap and Amazon partner for virtual try-ons, actual purchases
Snap and Amazon Fashion have sealed a partnership to blend Snapchat’s virtual try-on function with Amazon’s e-commerce. Together the companies have established “3D asset standards” to bring Amazon’s eyewear catalog to virtual life. Now that images of these products have been prepared for augmented reality (AR), Snapchat’s 363 million users ...
Zenni speeds through 50 million pairs’ mark, launches new app
U.S. online optical retailer Zenni has announced that it has sold more than 50 million pairs of glasses since its launch in 2003. The company added that it has doubled its sales’ output in less than four year as the previous 25 million pairs’ milestone was reached in March 2019. ...
Fast-growing Blickers launches private label
Blickers, one of the fast-growing multibrand online eyewear retailers in Europe, is launching its private label range of sunglasses and optical frames to complement its website offerings and further accelerate its growth. Called 99 Essentials, the collection includes 99 SKUs chosen based on the company’s big data analysis of best-selling ...
Stable eyewear and eyecare demand in the U.S. in Q3, report says
The demand for eyecare and eyewear in the U.S. has remained fairly stable since the start of the year, according to The Vision Council’s Consumer inSights Q3 report, which is based on a survey of over 15,000 adults. The results for the third quarter of the year were largely in ...
Eyewear companies climb in Deloitte luxury players’ ranking
Along with Thélios and Kering Eyewear, the eyewear subsidiaries of LVMH and Kering, three Italian-based eyewear manufacturers have been listed in the 2022 edition Deloitte’s “Global Powers of Luxury Goods”, an annual report ranking the 100 largest luxury companies in the world. Companies were ranked according to their consolidated sales ...
Spain’s optical manufacturers expect a record spring
The Spanish Association of Optical Manufacturers (AEO) is looking forward to strong eyewear sales in spring, as demand for sunglasses rose again in the third quarter, after two years of low inventory renewals. Third-quarter eyewear sales were in fact up by 20 percent overall in volume and by 11 percent ...
Consumer sentiment improves in Europe
Consumer sentiment improved slightly in Germany, France and Italy, the three main economies of the European Union, but consumers remain cautious in a difficult economic environment.
