Price is increasingly driving the US optical market as volumes drop in every category
The US optical market reached $19.1 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up from $18.4 billion in the first quarter, according to The Vision Council’s (TVC) latest Market inSights report. The quarterly estimates draw on consumer retail credit card spending data, patient billing and payment data, optical retail location ...
Fielmann unifies Spanish retail under Universitaria banner, eyes market lead
Fielmann Group is merging its two Spanish optical chains into a single brand. Óptica & Audiología Universitaria is absorbing Medical Óptica Audición, taking the combined network to 141 stores across 31 Spanish provinces, with the rebrand rolling out progressively through the end of 2026. “The brand unification is being carried ...
CVI revenues flatline amid US inventory reduction as CooperCompanies retains CooperSurgical
The revenues of CooperVision (CVI) were little changed in the third quarter of its fiscal year 2026, amid a reduction in US channel inventory that is also set to weigh on results in the last quarter of the year. CooperCompanies, the medical device company in which both CVI and CooperSurgical ...
Inspecs H1 mixed results highlight new owners’ challenge
INSPECS Group posted a slightly faster pace of revenue growth in the first half of 2026 than for the whole of last year. But that pickup came entirely from Manufacturing, the group’s small OEM arm, which is only just turning a profit. Frames and Optics, INSPECS’ much larger and historically ...
SILMO Paris 2026 holds steady in size, leans further into technology
SILMO Paris returns to Paris Nord Villepinte from September 25 to 28, and the numbers available so far point to a show holding steady. Yet a look beneath the surface reveals an event reorganizing itself: smart eyewear, AI and “oculomics,” the use of eye data to diagnose broader systemic health, ...
National Vision’s rebranding drive reaches Eyeglass World
National Vision has kicked off the second phase of its rebranding drive: after refreshing America’s Best in 2025, it’s now turning to Eyeglass World, its smaller banner.
Del Vecchio heir calls for a change of strategy at Essilux
Leonardo Maria del Vecchio, one of the eight heirs of Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, called for a change of strategy at EssilorLuxottica, in which the Del Vecchio family holding company Delfin is the largest shareholder with a 32.4 percent stake, noting that value of the eyewear giant’s stock has ...
Gentle Monster picks luxury executive to lead its EMEA push
Iicombined, the South Korean parent of eyewear brand Gentle Monster, has appointed Renaud Divisia as general manager of Iicombined Europe, the company announced on LinkedIn last week. Divisia will oversee organization, retail expansion, and commercial strategy across the EMEA region, including Gentle Monster.
Etnia’s new CEO roadmap: sharpen operations, keep the creativity and the opticians
Etnia Eyewear Culture has named Massimo Vian as chief executive, with founder David Pellicer stepping back into an executive chairman role. For the family-owned Spanish company, handing day-to-day control to an outside executive for the first time in a decade is a significant moment, and a signal of where the ...
Conant Optical accelerates in H1, broadens XR lens push
Conant Optical’s revenue growth picked back up in the first half of 2026, and its gross margin improved further. Behind both numbers sits a still-small but fast-emerging XR lens business, a segment that grew nearly 16-fold year on year and now makes up 4.3 percent of group revenue. It also ...
Specsavers’ operating margin jumps to 9.9 percent
Specsavers’ profitability improved sharply in fiscal 2025/26, with its operating margin climbing 1.7 percentage points to 9.9 percent, according to the group’s latest Companies House filing, which offers a narrower but more detailed view of the business than the group’s own Annual Review document.
White House report flags “great transshipment scam”
The White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy released a 25-page report on August 13 titled ”The Great Transshipment Scam.” The report defines illegal transshipment as routing goods through a third country to secure a lower US tariff than the true country of origin would trigger. It cites relabeling, ...
Fielmann cuts full-year guidance as detailed H1 figures confirm depth of German slowdown
Fielmann Group confirmed on Aug. 27 the detailed financial results behind the preliminary first-half figures it published in mid-July, while also delivering the formal guidance cut it had signaled a week earlier. On Aug.20, the German optical retailer lowered its full-year 2026 sales growth guidance, with the midpoint moving from ...
Migraine lens maker gets FDA approval to establish category
Avulux – trade name of Matap II LLC (Aventura, Florida) – has received De Novo authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Migraine & Light Sensitivity Lenses.
Del Vecchio heir steps down from Essilux management positions
Leonardo Maria del Vecchio, one of the eight heirs of Luxottica founder Leonardo del Vecchio, is stepping down from the management positions he holds at EssilorLuxottica, namely Chief Strategy Office and President of the Ray-Ban brand, the company confirmed.