The latest news and analysis on omnichannel retail and distribution changes.
Fielmann soft-launches lens fitting app
In the year 2020, despite the Covid-19 crisis and related retail restrictions, online sales of prescription eyewear in Germany stagnated at around one percent of total market sales according to the latest statistics from the national opticians’ association (ZVA). Commenting on this somewhat surprising data in Fielmann’s annual report, Marc ...
Acquisitions and digitization fuel New Look Vision’s growth
New Look Vision Group, the Canadian-based retail group, reported a high double-digit increase in revenues for the third consecutive quarter, confirming a quick recovery from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. After respective growths of 17 percent and 25 percent in Q3 and Q4 in the past financial year, the ...
Mister Spex up double digits, opens first stores abroad
Mister Spex, the German-based omnichannel retailer, announced last week that its 2020 revenues grew by 18 percent last year as compared to 2019, reaching €164 million. The company registered a double-digit hike in sales both in Germany and in its international markets. Dirk Graber, founder and co-CEO, highlighted that Mister ...
Fielmann enters Czech market, eyes France
During Fielmann’s annual press conference, Marc Fielmann, CEO of the company, announced that the German-based retail group was about to enter the Czech Republic, a new step forward in its internationalization strategy. The first shop will be opened in Prague next month and the group is planning to open at ...
Internationalization fueled Fielmann Q1 sales' growth
Fielmann Group reported a 9.2 percent year-on-year increase in external sales including VAT and changes in inventories to €444.9 million, a revenue level also higher than in Q1 2019. The increase was mostly attributable to the integration of the recently acquired Óptica & Audiologia Universitaria business in Spain. However, the ...
Essilor France benchmarks the performance of its partner opticians vs. others
According to a report commissioned by Essilor France to the research company Galileo Business Consulting every year since 2011, opticians partnering with the lens maker in France have been performing better on average than the other optical shops in terms of revenues and gross margin progression since 2007. The last ...
ZVA sees German market down 7.4 percent last year
Like for most other business sectors, 2020 turned to be a difficult year for the ophthalmic optics market, as shown by the latest figures published by the Zentralverband der Augenoptiker und Optometristen (ZVA), the German association of opticians and optometrists. Overall, the German eyewear sector faced a 7.4 percent drop ...
J&J Vision partners with Menicon in ortho-k lenses
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care and Menicon, the Japanese contact lens specialist, announced on April 7 the signature of a global partnership in the field of orthokeratology contact lenses designed to slow the progression of myopia among children. According to the joint statement, Menicon will keep developing and manufacturing the ...
Vision Group interested in Essilux and GV Italian stores
Vision Group, one of the leading Italian retail players, said that it was interested in studying the takeover of the 174 Italian stores to be divested if EssilorLuxottica and GrandVision eventually agree on the planned takeover. The divestment, which is a prerequisite for the European Commission to authorize the transaction, ...
Acuitis’ door count passes the 100 mark
Acuitis, the French banner of optical and hearing aids’ shops, kept opening new franchised stores at a steady pace last year in spite of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Adding 14 new retail locations, the Acuitis door count reached a total of 103 stores in eight countries at the ...