All Eyewear Intelligence articles in Volume 16, Issue 8-9

View all stories from this issue.

  • Article

    New management for Vuarnet

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    Neo Investment Partners, the owner of Vuarnet Sunglasses that recently acquired the rights to the brand for all kinds of products, has appointed a new general manager for the operation, Lionel Giraud, to develop the brand across all sectors. Stefano Fabris, the former manager of Allison who was running the ...

  • Article

    Salmoiraghi is back in profit

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    Salmoiraghi & Viganò, the large Italian optical retail group partly owned by Luxottica, closed the first half of its fiscal year on March 31 with a strong 114 percent increase in operating earnings before amortization (Ebitda) of €7.2 million. Net profit was back in the black at €0.6 million, compared ...

  • Article

    Hoya Lens says it is outperforming the market

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    Sales of eyeglass lenses jumped by more than 20 percent for Hoya Corporation in the 4th quarter of its financial year, ended on March 31, but they would have risen by only between 5 and 6 percent in constant currencies and without the consolidation of Seiko Optical Products (SOP). Sales ...

  • News briefs

    Mister Spex, the German online retailer of optical products, has...

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    Mister Spex, the German online retailer of optical products, has announced its first collaboration with a designer. Michael Michalsky, a former creative director of Adidas, has developed 11 exclusive styles of prescription frames and sunglasses for men and women that have become available on Mister Spex' website from this month.

  • Short stops

    International Vision Expo West has opened online registration for the...

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    International Vision Expo West has opened online registration for the show, scheduled for Sept. 16-19 in Las Vegas, offering an early bird discount of $25 until Aug. 20

  • Article

    Rodenstock’s owners explore strategic options

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    Bridgepoint, which acquired Rodenstock in 2007 from Permira, has engaged Goldman Sachs to explore strategic options, but according to the German eyewear company, a formal sales process has not yet started.According to a report by Bloomberg that could not be confirmed, exploratory discussions have been held with Essilor and Hoya. ...

  • News briefs

    Seiko Optical Europe has set up a marketing team for...

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    Seiko Optical Europe has set up a marketing team for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. It has been led since this past March by Dirk Beckmann, who worked previously for Transitions Optical in various roles. Filling a new position, he reports to Rainer Burkard, who became executive ...

  • News briefs

    Kering Eyewear has enlisted a new manager, Fernando Silva, as...

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    Kering Eyewear has enlisted a new manager, Fernando Silva, as vice president of sales for North America, responsible for sales to independent optical retailers and optical key accounts. He reports to Antonio Bortuzzo, president of Kering Eyewear for the Americas. As president of Marca Eyewear, a company based in Toronto, ...

  • Article

    New dual leadership for Mykita

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    Franz Koch, a former chief executive of Puma, is joining a much smaller company, Mykita, as managing partner, taking over many of responsibilities of Moritz Krueger, who founded the Germany designer eyewear company in 2003. They will both act as managing partners. Koch will handle B2B sales, production, finance, IT ...

  • Article

    Leonardo Del Vecchio makes more gifts

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    Luxottica's founder and chairman, Leonardo Del Vecchio, celebrated his 80th birthday on May 22 with a gift worth around €9 million to his 8,000 employees in Italy. The company announced in a press release a grant of 140,000 free treasury shares of Luxottica to them as a sign of appreciation of ...

  • Short stops

    Luxottica has decided to team up with the internet marketplace...

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    Luxottica has decided to team up with the internet marketplace of jd.com, the biggest competitor of Alibaba in China, to sell its eyewear online in the country

  • News briefs

    The World Council of Optometry (WCO) is moving its head...

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    The World Council of Optometry (WCO) is moving its head office from London to the premises of the American Optometric Association in St. Louis, Missouri. The AOA will also house the World Optometric Foundation, a partner of Optometry Giving Sight in the sponsorship of World Sight Day. With its global ...

  • Article

    Two new plants for CooperVision

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    The American contact lens company is going to start up two new factories in the U.K. and Costa Rica in the next few quarters to cope with its strong growth, which continues to be higher than the overall market for soft contact lenses. The plant in Costa Rica will incorporate ...

  • Short stops

    For the second time, Hoya will contribute to a national...

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    For the second time, Hoya will contribute to a national campaign against age-related macular degeneration in France, between June 22 and 26, working together with 500 opticians all over the country (more on this later)

  • Article

    The latest numbers on contact lens sales in Europe

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    In 2014, sales of soft contact lenses (SCLs) to eye care professionals (ECP) across 33 European countries reached €1,482 million, marking a 3.3 percent increase on the previous year, according to the most recent census released by Euromcontact, the short name for the European Federation of National Associations and International ...

  • Short stops

    A Danish eyewear producer, Kaibosch, has launched a collection of...

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    A Danish eyewear producer, Kaibosch, has launched a collection of sunglasses, made of biodegradable acetate, in collaboration with a Danish fashion brand, A Question Of

  • News briefs

    SilmoIstanbul, the new Turkish trade show organized in collaboration with...

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    SilmoIstanbul, the new Turkish trade show organized in collaboration with the French Silmo fair, reports a total of 12,524 visitors at its last edition on Dec. 11-14, 2014. A total of 95 companies presented about 500 local and foreign brands. They welcomed 2,976 registered opticians and 600 foreign visitors.

  • News briefs

    Clarification: We reported in the last issue that Westgroupe of...

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    Clarification: We reported in the last issue that Westgroupe of Canada was founded in 2011. To be more precise, the company was founded in 1961 under the name of Western Optical. It launched a second, premium division in 2002, called Wescan. In 2011, the entire operation was renamed as Westgroupe, ...

  • News briefs

    Marchon has inaugurated a new corporate headquarters in Mexico City....

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    Marchon has inaugurated a new corporate headquarters in Mexico City. On that occasion, Marchon presented a collaborative retail project together with Carl Zeiss Vision and CooperVision. It was described as a concept store intended to help eye care professionals to use more modern sales methods and services.

  • Short stops

    Kevin Gutsell has resigned as chief executive of the Federation...

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    Kevin Gutsell has resigned as chief executive of the Federation of Manufacturing Opticians (FMO) in the U.K.