All Eyewear Intelligence articles in Volume 25 No. 13+14
View all stories from this issue.
-
PDF NewsletterEyewear Intelligence: Vol 25 - No 13+14
Double-digit growth puts Specsavers above the £4 bn annual revenue mark | Fielmann more than doubles US retail footprint with new acquisition | Most top industry players maintained momentum last year, but frames companies slowed down | Spanish optical market up by 6.0 percent in 2023 | Backed by new investor, Vision Group aims for more acquisitions | Afflelou sales up 5 percent in Q3 | Multiópticas changes its corporate structure | New brand aims to revolutionize shape-memory eyewear with versatile proprietary technology | Mitsui expects return to growth for vision care unit sales in FY 2024 | Essilor, MicroOLED developing AR, with EU help | Google takes a seat at AR Alliance’s board, alongside Meta, Essilux and others | Zuckerberg on smartglasses and AI | SILMO Paris invites ECPs to grasp new technologies and reinvent the shop experience | J.F. REY new owners look to balance brand DNA and changes while navigating supply chain issues | Kirk & Kirk turns to crowfunding for marketing budget boost | Increased production capacity supports Menicon’s sales growth, weighs on profitability | French company offers quick 3D-printed substitute frames
-
News briefs
Topcon Healthcare appoints new chief commercial officer
Topcon Healthcare has announced the appointment of Lance Patton as its new chief commercial officer. Patton, an experienced eyecare industry executive with previous management roles at Carl Zeiss Meditec, Heidelberg Engineering and most recently Optos, will lead the company’s commercial transformation to a direct sales and service organization, the announcement ...
-
News briefs
Fielmann Group upgrades outlook as Shopko Optical acquisition is completed
Fielmann Group has upgraded its outlook for the ongoing financial year following the closure of Shopko Optical’s acquisition on July 1. The investment in the Wisconsin-based retail chain, which operates a network of 140 stores for annual sales estimated at over $100 million, was first announced last month. The German ...
-
ArticleZuckerberg on smartglasses and AI
As late as a year and a half ago, Mark Zuckerberg believed that smart glasses would need to boast full holographic augmented reality (AR) before they could replace the smartphone as “the main platform that people would use.” He no longer believes this, as he has explained in a 40-minute ...
-
ArticleMultiópticas changes its corporate structure
The Spanish chain Multiópticas is making the transition from cooperative to limited company, according to Modaes. The decision came down at its general meeting, held on June 26, and is intended to consolidate its domestic and foreign distribution network. Members of the cooperative will henceforth be partners. Multiópticas was founded ...
-
ArticleDouble-digit growth puts Specsavers above the £4 bn annual revenue mark
Publishing its annual business review for its fiscal year ended Feb. 29, 2024, Specsavers has reported group revenue of £4.01 billion, up by 10.3 percent year-on-year at constant exchange rates. This marks a strong improvement from the previous fiscal year when sales were up by 5.6 percent. The performance also ...
-
News briefs
De Rigo Rem has a new president
De Rigo Group has announced the appointment of Jeff Fitzhugh as president of its De Rigo Rem subsidiary in the US, effective July 8. Fitzhugh has been working for close to thirty years in the sportswear, surfwear and optical industries holding senior management roles at companies such as Oakley, Quiksilver ...
-
News briefs
Safilo Group launches share buyback program
Safilo Group has announced the launch of a share buyback program for a maximum of 11 million shares, or 2.7 percent of currently issued shares, between July 1 and Dec. 1, 2024. The program, which was approved by shareholders during Safilo’s annual meeting in April, is aimed at servicing the ...
-
News briefs
National Vision appoints new chief stores officer
National Vision, the US optical retail group with over 1,400 shops, has announced the appointment of Mark Banner as its new chief stores officer. Banner was most recently serving as senior vice president of retail and real estate at Sleep Number, an American brand of beds, mattresses and other sleep-related ...
-
News briefs
Top US retailers doubled growth pace last year
The 50 largest US optical retailers increased their sales by 8.0 percent year-on-year to an estimated $21.0 billion with 16,369 shops, according to the annual report by Vision Monday. This marks an acceleration from 2022 where their combined revenue was up by 4.0 percent versus 2021. Vision Source, the retail ...
-
ArticleSILMO Paris invites ECPs to grasp new technologies and reinvent the shop experience
Organizers of SILMO Paris have announced that over 900 companies, representing 1,500 brands and 144 countries, would exhibit their products and services at the next edition of the show, in line with participation numbers from Silmo 2023. The event will take place from Sept. 20 to 23 at the usual ...
-
ArticleAfflelou sales up 5 percent in Q3
The Afflelou Group has reported a 5.5 percent year-on-year increase in network sales to €229.4 million for the third quarter of its current fiscal year, ended April 30, in line with its growth pace in the previous quarter. For the first nine months of the financial year, sales were up ...
-
News briefs
CECOP updates corporate image
CECOP, the Spanish-based buying group with over 8,000 members across 8 countries, is updating its corporate image with a new logo and a new video on its website homepage. “The evolution of the logo moves away from the representation of a target, focusing on variety, community, and growth. The emphasis ...
-
ArticleBacked by new investor, Vision Group aims for more acquisitions
London-based alternative asset manager ICG has agreed to purchase a 49.4 percent stake in the leading Italian eyewear retailer Vision Group as part of a management buyout, acquiring the roughly 46 percent stake held by former private equity group backer Arcadia along with shares from other unnamed investors. ICG will ...
-
News briefs
IOT appoints new chief innovation officer
Indizen Optical Technologies has announced the appointment of vision scientist José Alonso as its Chief Innovation Officer. Alonso is a co-founder and a long-time senior advisor of the company, in addition to his work as a professor at the Complutense University of Madrid where he has taught on vision, ophthalmic ...
-
ArticleKirk & Kirk turns to crowfunding for marketing budget boost
Kirk & Kirk is about to complete a crowdfunding campaign for £150,000 (€177,000) by selling approximately 7 percent of company shares on Crowdcube, a crowdfunding platform focusing on European start-ups. Jason Kirk, CEO, and Karen Kirk, Creative Director, each hold 36 percent of the family business. At the date of ...
-
-
News briefs
Rodenstock appoints new VP marketing & strategy
Rodenstock Group has appointed Catherine Stahl as executive vice president of marketing and strategy, a new position inside the company. Her responsibilities will include global marketing, product management, business development and strategy for the whole group. Stahl has been working in the med-tech sector since 2013. She was most recently ...
-
ArticleGoogle takes a seat at AR Alliance’s board, alongside Meta, Essilux and others
The AR Alliance, an international body regrouping companies and organizations in the augmented reality hardware sector, has announced that Google has become a new founding member of the association, taking a seat at its board of directors. The announcement seems to give more substance to speculations that the high-tech giant ...
-
News briefs
Tourists and retail expansion keep JEH on fast growth track
JEH Holdings, the Japanese-based group operating the Kaneko Optical and 999.9 retail chains, has reported a 32.3 percent year-on-year increase in revenue to 3,861 million Japanese yen (€22.7m) for the quarter ended April 30, 2024. Quarterly sales from both banners also grew by over 32 percent. On a same-store basis, ...
