All Eyewear Intelligence articles in Volume 23 No. 5+6
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Eyewear Intelligence Newsletter: Vol 23 - 5+6
The German and French eyewear markets back over pre-pandemic levels | Kering Eyewear acquires Maui Jim | Essilux up 7% in 2021 vs. 2019, finalizes an acquisition and a divestiture | Fielmann sales jumped 19% last year | Synsam posts record sales and profits | Good start of the year for Safilo | EMEA and APAC drove CVI in Q1 | U.S. market up 5% in 2021 vs. 2019 | National Vision cautious for 2022 after posting record results for 2021 | Warby Parker posts higher sales and losses, partners with Eastman | TOG shifts to more high-value products | Essilux restricts operations in Russia | Russian market braces for shortage
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Article
Higher sales and losses for Warby Parker in Q4, FY
U.S.-based direct-to-consumer Warby Parker has reported a 17.8 percent year-on-year increase in Q4 revenues to $132.9 million. The company noted that its quarterly sales had been negatively impacted by the Covid’s Omicron variant at the end of December, which usually coincides with peak demand from customers. Q4 revenues were up ...
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Article
Essilux supports Ukraine’s 1,700 staff, restricts Russian operations
Reacting to the war in Ukraine, EssilorLuxottica, announced on its social media last week that the group’s immediate priority was the safety of its 1,700 collaborators in Ukraine and that it had taken steps to provide them with secured shelter, financial assistance and help crossing borders. According to the same ...
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News briefs
Hoya and IMI partner to fight myopia
Hoya Vision Care and the International Myopia Institute (IMI) have established a partnership to deal with prevention, treatment and management of myopia. Hoya will be sitting on the IMI board and collaborating on multimedia content, including summary videos for IMI whitepapers, to be posted on the IMI’s website and disseminated ...
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Article
Eyewear prices jump in Russia as the market braces for shortage
The price for eyewear in Russia jumped by 30 to 40 percent since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, primarily due to a collapse of the Russian ruble. Some stores have also seen a panic buying, as customers are wary of possible supply disruptions, over an unprecedented exodus of Western business ...
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News briefs
Essilux and CooperVision finalize SightGlass Vision JV
A year after the initial announcement of their partnership, EssilorLuxottica and CooperVision have confirmed the finalization of their joint venture agreement for the development of SightGlass Vision, a new lens in the myopia management segment. During its last results’ presentation, CooperVision said that the two partners were still discussing the ...
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News briefs
Maison Morel to receive French subsidy
Maison Morel will be among the selected beneficiaries of the “France Relance” fund for production-related investments. Hoping to stimulate the economy, the French government has earmarked €30 million for ecology, €34 million for competitiveness and €36 million for social cohesion. The subsidy was announced by French prime minister Jean Castex ...
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News briefs
Copenhagen Specs returns
Uncancelled this year – the 2020 show having succumbed to Covid – Copenhagen Specs took place on March 5-6 at its usual location in Denmark’s capital, the train-repair building turned into a convention center known as Lokomotivværkstedet. This edition of the show drew 53 exhibitors, 85 brands and 608 unique ...
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Article
Good start of the year for Safilo
The board of directors of Safilo Group has approved the annual results of the company for the 2021 fiscal year, which showed strong improvements both in terms of revenue and profitability versus 2020 and 2019. As we have already covered the group’s performance extensively at the end of January after ...
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Article
With revenues up, Thai Optical is shifting towards high value-added
Thai Optical Group has posted revenues from sales and services of 2,358 million baht (€64.20m) for 2021, up year-on-year by 29.5 percent. Ebitda was up by 108.4 percent to THB 529 million (€14.4m). America has been the group’s major growth market over the past three years, climbing from 7.8 percent ...
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News briefs
Mido to be held in-person, review the Italian industry
Mido is expecting 630 exhibitors from 45 countries to show up in Milan for its first in-person show in two years, scheduled for April 30 to May 2. In preparation, its president, Giovanni Vitaloni, plans to attend Vision Expo East, in New York City, on April 2 so as “to ...
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Article
Warby Parker and Eastman find a circle for demo-lens plastic
In a partnership with Eastman, Warby Parker has established a recycling program for the recycling of demo lenses. The direct-to-consumer eyewear company says it has spent years researching alternative demo-lens materials, but so far all have fallen short on quality and proved “incredibly difficult to break down.” Since the ...
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News briefs
U.S. sunglass brand Knockaround attracts capital
Brand Holdings LLC has completed a growth equity investment in Knockaround. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in San Diego, California, Knockaround produces polarized sunglasses, blue-light blocking glasses, ski and snowboard goggles, and custom designs. Its founder, Adam Moyer, describes it as a “fun and functional sunglasses brand” that is “both ...
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Article
Kering Eyewear to acquire Maui Jim
Kering Eyewear is acquiring Maui Jim, the world’s largest independent brand of high-end sunglasses. The deal is subject to approval by regulators but should be complete by the second half of 2022. Speaking at a press conference this morning, Kering Eyewear’s president and CEO, Roberto Vedovotto, did not wish to ...
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News briefs
CooperVision’s daily contacts are net plastic neutral
Now that its MyDay daily line has made the transition, the full range of CooperVision’s silicone hydrogel one-day contact lenses is net plastic neutral in the U.S. The Clariti one-day range made an earlier transition. According to CooperVision, the year-old project has so far kept about 22 million bottles’ worth ...
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News briefs
New book on independent eyewear brands
The publisher of TEF Magazine, the trade publication focusing on independent eyewear brands, is publishing Amazing Eyewear. The oversized coffee table book, as it is being described, includes stories from almost 60 designer eyewear brands, as well as insights by retailers addressing that segment of the market and a knowledge ...
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Article
Essilux comparable revenue up 7.4 % in 2021 vs. 2019
EssilorLuxottica has reported revenues of €19,820 million for the full 2021 financial year, up 40 percent year-on-year and 20 percent versus the pre-Covid 2019 year. The topline figure includes revenues of the GrandVision business for the first time, and for a total of €2,062 million corresponding to six months of ...
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News briefs
Italia Independent pauses Russian distribution
The Italia Independent Group announced the immediate suspension of the distribution in Russia of its house brands Italia Independent and Laps and licensed brands Hublot and CR7 in a “sign of full and total solidarity with the Ukrainian people.” Just this January, Italia Independent signed an exclusive distribution agreement in ...
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News briefs
Vision Expo East returns nearly to normal
Visitors will be entering and breathing the old-fashioned way at the forthcoming edition of Vision Expo East, scheduled for March 31 to April 3 at the Javits Center in New York City. The city’s new mayor, Eric Adams, suspended the “Key to NYC” pandemic restrictions on March 4. As a ...
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Article
U.S. market up throughout 2021, despite cooling Q4
According to The Vision Council’s latest VisionWatch market report, covering the fourth quarter of 2021, U.S. eyewear sales reached $45.83 billion over the course of 2021, up by 24.3 percent year-on-year and by 5 percent since 2019. “While 2021 marked a significant rebound from a challenging 2020 for the optical ...