By Staff
Monday, October 25, 2021 12:27 AM
SAN DIEGO—Reflecting the partnership between
Shamir and the Alpine Formula 1 team, a unique optical technology collaboration announced earlier this year, as
VMAIL reported, Shamir took further steps late last week to share more information about their collaboration which will be leading up to the launch in early December this year. Shamir Glacier Plus Metaform will enable the production of new revolutionary lens–enhancing AR properties through a unique manufacturing process that will soon be available on 1.74. The Shamir Glacier Plus Metaform is up to 20 percent thinner and lighter than regular minus lenses and up to 18 times stronger than the standard FDA requirements, Shamir noted.
By Staff
Monday, October 25, 2021 12:24 AM
PINELLAS PARK, Fla.—
Transitions Optical is hosting an online educational event for industry professionals on Tuesday, November 9. Billed as “A Day of Education" with Transition Optical, the virtual event will give attendees the opportunity to learn about the latest education from industry experts and the Transitions Optical team on photochromics, light, style trends and the new range of Transitions XTRActive products—Transitions XTRActive Polarized and Transitions XTRActive new generation. The online event will include various sessions between 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST. Attendees are not required to attend the full event and can join sessions of interest at their leisure. Courses and events scheduled for the day include:
By Staff
Monday, October 25, 2021 12:21 AM
TAIBON AGORDINO, Italy—On October 13,
Blackfin celebrated its 50th anniversary with the opening of its new Black Shelter headquarters, a building that nearly triples the space in its existing Taibon Agordino location, surrounded by the Belluno Dolomite mountains. The new headquarters is a further expansion of the original building, which was renovated in 2016. Today, it houses about 100 employees between offices and production. Everything is done in-house, which Blackfin says more than doubles the production area to cope with growing market demand.
By Staff
Monday, October 25, 2021 12:15 AM
RANDOLPH, Mass.—Stanley Zaleski, co-founder of
Randolph Engineering, passed away peacefully on Oct. 16, 2021 at the age of 82. Stanley immigrated to the U.S. from Poland at the age of 19. He attended Wentworth Institute of Technology where he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Soon after graduating, Zaleski was drafted to service for active duty in the U.S. Army from 1961 to 1963 and continued to serve in the Army Reserves until 1967.
By Staff
Monday, October 25, 2021 12:02 AM
My Vision Show has announced the first My Vision Show Rewind, a three-day virtual event November 19 – 21, 2021. My Vision Show Rewind will highlight the independent brands, and a select few content creators, who participated in the show throughout the year.
By Staff
Friday, October 22, 2021 12:23 PM
NEW YORK—A comprehensive report issued this month by the accounting and management services firm
KPMG takes a closer look at how the current pandemic has impacted the U.S. and global economic landscape. As the firm notes in its report, “Pandemics of the length and scope of the current COVID-19 pandemic can change the economic and geopolitical landscape, literally shape shifting economies in their wake. Data on the shape of economies after pandemics shows higher savings rates, a smaller labor force, lower real interest rates, higher wages, wealth destruction, and lower capital expenditures.”
In addition the report,
“Shape Shifting: How the pandemic is changing the contours of the economy,” finds that in many cases the rate of interest was below the rate of growth after past pandemics.
In addition to population growth patterns, wages and working remotely, KPMG looks into retirement trends and finds some interesting trends that likely will play out for employers for several more years. As the report notes, “In addition to a falling population, retirement rose during the pandemic.” The implications and trends, according to KPMG, are:
• Labor force participation among those over the age of 65 was one of the fastest growing cohorts over the past two decades. The pandemic appears to have reversed this.
• For the approximately 1 million workers below the age of 65 who retired during the pandemic, it is very possible they will return to the labor force if the economic recovery is long and/or strong enough. This would be good news for employers and the outlook for economic growth.
• For around 2.5 million people over the age of 68 who retired during the pandemic, their return is unlikely. This poses a structural drag on consumption and in turn inflation in the years ahead.
By Staff
Friday, October 22, 2021 12:36 AM
VM Summit session examines rebuilding patient trust, Retina Consultants of America adds Colorado Retina Associates, ECPs are hopeful about business but concerned about staffing, Jobson’s ECP Survey says, Eyemart Express rolls out ‘Buy-Online, Pick-Up in Store’ and Optical Academy launches mobile vision lab fleet all topped this week’s
VMAIL news feed. Click on the headlines below to catch up on anything you might have missed.
By Staff
Friday, October 22, 2021 12:33 AM
NEW YORK—As the Oct. 20 virtual VM Leadership Summit kicked off on Wednesday afternoon, two expert speakers talked about how the pandemic has put patients' trust to the test, and more importantly, how providers can tackle the issue of misinformation and help counter the formidable challenge of rebuilding that trust. In a session titled Rebuilding Trust, Dr. John Whyte, chief medical officer for
WebMD and Jennifer Hauser, head of Edelman’s
Wellness 360 business unit, shared views about how today’s eyecare professionals can build trust with their patients.
By Staff
Friday, October 22, 2021 12:27 AM
DALLAS—
Essilor announces the creation of a state-of-the-art digital event platform, the Essilor Vision Care Center, and opens registration for the center’s inaugural event: the Global Varilux Summit.
By Staff
Friday, October 22, 2021 12:24 AM
DULUTH, Ga.—
National Vision, Inc. (NASDAQ: EYE) released its first Corporate Responsibility Report, titled
A World Worth Seeing as part of its ongoing efforts to increase transparency in its environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities.
By Staff
Friday, October 22, 2021 12:02 AM
Specsavers announced its intention to become a Canadian market leader by opening more than 200 locally owned stores in the country by 2024. The company will start by launching 16 stores in British Columbia over the next six months, including two in November 2021.
By Staff
Thursday, October 21, 2021 1:41 PM
WASHINGTON—Retail sales increased again in September as worries about the COVID-19 delta variant pushed consumer spending toward merchandise rather than services like dining, entertainment or travel despite supply chain disruptions and inflation, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said last week.
“Today’s retail sales data confirms the sheer power of the consumer to spend, and we expect this to continue,” NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Despite persistent challenges related to the global pandemic, supply chain and labor shortages, retailers and their partners have shown resilience and ingenuity in getting the workforce, goods and systems in place to serve their customers and the communities where they operate.
Last week, the
U.S. Census Bureau said overall retail sales in September were up 0.7 percent seasonally adjusted from August and up 13.9 percent year-over-year. That compares with increases of 0.9 percent month-over-month and 15.4 percent year-over-year in August. Despite occasional month-over-month declines, sales have grown year-over-year every month since June 2020, according to Census data.
For the first nine months of the year, sales as calculated by NRF were up 14.5 percent over the same period in 2020. That is consistent with NRF’s
revised forecast that 2021 retail sales should grow between 10.5 percent and 13.5 percent over 2020 to between $4.44 trillion and $4.56 trillion. Click
here to read the full story from the NRF.
By Staff
Thursday, October 21, 2021 12:33 AM
SOUTHLAKE, Texas—
Retina Consultants of America (RCA), a comprehensive physician management services organization, has added
Colorado Retina Associates (CRA) to its national consortium. With the addition of Colorado Retina, RCA adds a key partner in the Rocky Mountain Region and expands its footprint into a new territory, according to an announcement Wednesday. CRA was founded in 2006 through the merger of three independent practices and has grown to include 13 board-certified and fellowship-trained ophthalmologists in the greater Denver-Boulder metropolitan area.
By Staff
Thursday, October 21, 2021 12:30 AM
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla.—
ABB Optical Group (ABB), a leading independent eyecare distributor, announced Wednesday changes within the company’s specialty vision product division, effective immediately.
By Staff
Thursday, October 21, 2021 12:24 AM
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—GoCheck, creator of the
GoCheck Kids digital vision screening platform, announced an investment round of $10 million to grow its team, platform and customer partnerships.