All Eyewear Intelligence articles in Volume 17, Issue 3

View all stories from this issue.

  • Article

    Retina replaces Garro

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Three large buying groups for independent opticians in Spain, Italy and France have joined forces to form a new European cooperative based in Madrid, called Retina, whose goal is to negotiate stronger collaboration agreements with leading suppliers, share best practices and put together a standardized offer of products and services ...

  • News briefs

    Lunettes Grasset is launching the first range of prescription frames...

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Lunettes Grasset is launching the first range of prescription frames made in France under the IKKS brand, feeling that this will reinforce the French company's offer internationally. The line will include models for men, women and juniors that will be available at retail from the first quarter of 2016 for ...

  • Article

    Italy’s export growth quickens

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    After a rise of 11.8 percent in 2014, Italy's exports of optical frames and sunglasses increased by 12.3 percent in 2015, reaching a value of €3,442 million. Sunglasses continued to drive the export growth, rising by 14.2 percent to €2,310 million, in contrast with an increase for prescription frames of ...

  • News briefs

    Lapo Elkann has strengthened his majority stake in Italia Independent....

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Lapo Elkann has strengthened his majority stake in Italia Independent. On Nov. 26, 2015, the Italian entrepreneur had already increased his position to 50.36 percent of the capital. More recently, with another series of share acquisitions, he became the owner of 50.7 percent of the shares, after purchasing 1,200 shares ...

  • Short stops

    Oakley has settled a patent infringement dispute with Polylite Taiwan...

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Oakley has settled a patent infringement dispute with Polylite Taiwan Co.

  • Short stops

    Rudy Project has signed a sponsorship deal with Dani Pedrosa,...

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Rudy Project has signed a sponsorship deal with Dani Pedrosa, the motorcycling champion who competes in the Repsol Honda Moto GP team

  • Article

    Luxottica’s corporate governance under the spotlight

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    The Financial Times published a rather critical editorial on the management merry-go-round at Luxottica that has led to the departure of three chief executives in a year and a half (see Eyewear Intelligence Vol. 17 N° 1+2). The influential British daily put the blame on the 80-year-old founder and chairman, ...

  • News briefs

    CORRECTION: Murai has operational control over Mondottica Japan, the new...

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    CORRECTION: Murai has operational control over Mondottica Japan, the new joint venture of Mondottica in Japan, but it will not own the majority of its shares. As in other countries, Mondottica will share the ownership on a 50-50 basis. Mondottica has similar agreements with Menrad in Germany and Optic House ...

  • News briefs

    The Visual Expo show in Hammamet, Tunisia, has confirmed its...

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    The Visual Expo show in Hammamet, Tunisia, has confirmed its schedule for March 11-15, 2016.  On the other hand, the organizers of the Optics Eurasia fair have cancelled this year's edition of the show, due to be held in Novosibirsk next November. Only six exhibitors participated in the last edition ...

  • News briefs

    Hoya Lens Netherlands is closing down the production of ophtalmic...

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Hoya Lens Netherlands is closing down the production of ophtalmic lenses at its laboratory in Uithoorn to focus on marketing, sales and improved services for Dutch opticians. The move is expected to affect 40 of the 75 workers at the facility, which will continue to sell stock lenses. Hoya started ...

  • Article

    Essilor gets closer to the customer

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    After publishing its results for the last financial year (see the next article in this issue), Essilor International announced earlier this week its acquisition of Vision Direct Group, one of the leading European online retailers for contact lenses. Based in the U.K., Vision Direct does most of its business in ...

  • News briefs

    Mido's president, Cirillo Marcolin, says that the trade show opening...

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Mido's president, Cirillo Marcolin, says that the trade show opening in Milan tomorrow had to add exhibit space to accommodate confirmed exhibitors as well as 106 new companies. The big news at the fair will be the launch of More!, a satellite area of the Design Lab, connected to it ...

  • Short stops

    Optician, the leading British trade magazine, has redesigned its layout...

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Optician, the leading British trade magazine, has redesigned its layout following its recent takeover by the Mark Allen Group

  • News briefs

    Gerald (Gerry) Bottero, who was president of Hoya Vision Care...

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Gerald (Gerry) Bottero, who was president of Hoya Vision Care between April 2005 and September 2014, has been appointed by Hoya Corp. to the role of president of its Pentax Medical division, with global responsibilities. He had first joined Hoya in 1988. Bottero's former responsibilities at Hoya Vision Care were ...

  • Article

    Strong progress for Blackfin

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Pramaor, the small and dynamic Italian firm behind the Blackfin brand of titanium glasses, reports a 50 percent increase in orders for the first two months of this year. This comes after a sales increase of 27 percent to €6.2 million in the past year, driven by a 38 percent ...

  • News briefs

    Assottica, the Italian association of contact lens producers, has a...

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Assottica, the Italian association of contact lens producers, has a new president for the years 2016-2017, namely Paola Rizzetto, the chief executive of CooperVision Italia. She succeeds Nicoletta Losi, the manager of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Italia, who led the association for the previous four years.

  • News briefs

    Invu by Swiss Eyewear Group partnered with Ecal-University of Art...

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Invu by Swiss Eyewear Group partnered with Ecal-University of Art and Design Lausanne for its first ever Invu Sunglass Design Contest. More than 30 students studying for a bachelor degree in industrial design entered the competition, which required them to design original new sunglass models. The jury, made up of ...

  • Short stops

    Silhouette will have a dedicated area in the four stores...

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Silhouette will have a dedicated area in the four stores of the Lunetterie chain in Rio de Janeiro, where the Olympic Games are going to be held this summer

  • News briefs

    Optical Express has appointed Geraldine Meade as its new professional...

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Optical Express has appointed Geraldine Meade as its new professional development director. Most recently, Meade was managing director of Black & Lizars, the Scottish eye care chain, where she has held a number of positions, including chief operating officer, overseeing the firm's 25 practices, before becoming managing director. In her ...

  • News briefs

    Guillaume Joucla has been appointed as managing director of CooperVision...

    2016-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Guillaume Joucla has been appointed as managing director of CooperVision France. A former manager of Ciba Vision and Alcon, he spent the last two years to develop a line of hearing aids, Widex.