By Staff
Tuesday, January 12, 2021 12:27 AM
DALLAS and NEW YORK—
EssilorLuxottica is launching the first commercial product leveraging the strength of the new Group by strategically combining the expertise of Essilor and Luxottica and tapping the brand appeal of its most popular lines. The company's senior executives said that its latest edition of Ray-Ban Authentic "represents the perfect match of Ray-Ban’s legendary style and Essilor’s expertise in sight."
By Staff
Thursday, January 7, 2021 12:30 AM
NEW YORK—ECPs corroborated the national statistics showing a sharp uptick in the incidence of COVID-19 cases in their communities across the country, noting the impact of the pandemic on their own staffing situations, as more of those associates have been personally affected, examined their end-of year sales and underscored their belief that the availability of vaccines will be key to a recovery. Their views were shared in the 18th Wave of the Coronavirus ECP Survey conducted Dec. 21-31, 2020, by Jobson Research, which has been surveying ECP and optical retailers since the crisis and shutdowns happened in mid-March.
By Staff
Tuesday, December 29, 2020 12:24 AM
NEW YORK—Corporate Social Responsibility, also known as CSR, has been a part of our business landscape for quite some time now. But like any good social purpose movement, CSR continues to grow, change and at times, even reinvent itself as current events and societal changes take hold. The term CSR is all about businesses and, in turn, employees, being good “corporate citizens.” Supporting a common social good allows companies to contribute to their community, locally or elsewhere in the world, connect with customers, establish positive employee participation, and ultimately expand awareness of their brand.
By Staff
Tuesday, December 22, 2020 12:24 AM
SHORT HILLS, N.J.—Given COVID-19, New Eyes for the Needy has put a new spin on Rockin’ for New Eyes (RFNE), an annual benefit concert performed by musicians who work in the optical industry. “We came up with the idea of a ‘Recorded Live’ event and airing it on New Year’s Eve because none of us are going to any parties or large gatherings,” John Alofs, a New Eyes board member and RFNE musician, said.
By Staff
Thursday, December 17, 2020 3:15 PM
CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France—
EssilorLuxottica announced today a major change in its top level leadership. The company issued a statement saying that executive vice chairman Hubert Sagnieres has decided to retire and relinquish his responsibilities at EssilorLuxottica and its subsidiaries. He will remain as non-executive vice chairman of the company. In order to preserve the equal powers principle of the business combination agreement currently in place, company chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio decided to voluntarily step back from his executive responsibilities at EssilorLuxottica. He will remain non-executive chairman of the company.
By Staff
Thursday, December 3, 2020 12:27 AM
NEW YORK—In close to nine months since the advent of the COVID-19 virus to certain parts of the country in mid-March, now much more widely spread throughout the U.S., ECPs have learned to cope with the impacts of the pandemic on their patients, their staff, their exam room and dispensary operations in different ways. In general, with upswings in the number of cases in most states in late October/November, priorities toward cleaning and sanitation have taken hold and as many as 88 percent of respondents to the Nov. 24-30 Jobson Coronavirus ECP Survey say they believe hygiene protocols will continue post-COVID.
By Staff
Monday, November 30, 2020 12:27 AM
NEW YORK—In this year like no other, the topic of sustainability is gaining ground in the optical industry. As individuals, families, companies and businesses large and small start to reprioritize as a result of new examples of climate change, economic challenges, social causes and the pandemic, there is more concern about companies' and brands' approach to the matter. In
VM's November issue, the cover topic explores some of the latest findings about consumers' changing attitudes towards the subject.
By StaffL
Tuesday, November 24, 2020 12:27 AM
NEW YORK—
Vision Monday and
20/20 Magazine are pleased to announce the selections in the 12th annual EyeVote Readers’ Choice Awards, a special survey aimed at identifying readers’ favorite products and companies of the year. Optical retailers and ECP readers of the two Jobson Medical Information publications were asked to identify their “favorite” products in 19 distinct categories.
By Staff
Thursday, November 19, 2020 8:49 AM
BATH, England and NUREMBERG, Germany—
Inspecs Group PLC (LSE: SPEC), a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of eyewear frames, announced that it has conditionally agreed to acquire all of the equity interests in
Eschenbach Holding GmbH for €94.85 million (approximately £84.7 million). The consideration will be paid wholly in cash on closing. Eschenbach is a leading, global, eyewear supplier headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany. It has two divisions, one focused on designing and distributing eyeglass frames and sunglasses (which consists of
Tura in the U.S.) and one on designing, manufacturing and distributing specialty optics products and low vision technologies, which is the Optics Division (
Eschenbach Optik of America).
By Staff
Wednesday, November 11, 2020 12:24 AM
NEW YORK—As daily records of new COVID-19 cases throughout the U.S. are reaching well above 100,000, optical sales were up in all service/product categories being tracked over the past week (Nov. 2-8). According to the latest Practice Performance Tracker from Jobson Research, sales increases ranged from a high of 3 index points for gross revenue and contact lenses to a low of 1 index point for exams/refractions.
By Staff
Tuesday, October 27, 2020 8:44 AM
WOONSOCKET, R.I.—
CVS Pharmacy, the retail division of
CVS Health, is moving more aggressively into the optical business with an announcement Tuesday that it is now offering a telehealth contact lens renewal tool via its website across more than 30 states. The drugstore chain announced the launch of QuickRenew, an online contact lens prescription renewal tool powered by technology from Premium Vision. (Premium Vision is one of
1-800 Contacts’ portfolio companies, along with Liingo Eyewear and others.)
By Staff
Thursday, October 22, 2020 12:27 AM
NEW YORK—A noted rise in COVID-19 cases in their regions are a concern among the ECP respondents of Wave 16 of Jobson's Coronavirus Survey, conducted Oct. 16 through 20 by
Jobson Research. At the same time, 30 percent of respondents reported their optical sales for this month were about the same compared to the prior year's October while another 27 percent said they were experiencing higher sales this month than last year. Thirty nine percent reported their profitability was on a par with last year at this time while 27 percent said their profitability was higher.
By Staff
Friday, October 16, 2020 12:27 AM
NEW YORK—Six women were named recipients of the 2020 Theia Awards of Excellence last night, Thursday Oct. 15. The award ceremony was held virtually as the conclusion to the three-day Women’s Leadership Conference hosted by
Women In Optometry with the
American Academy of Optometry Academy at Homeprogram. The awards were presented with a special collaboration of past winners returning to honor the new recipients as they accepted their awards in this fifth annual award ceremony.
By Staff
Wednesday, October 7, 2020 12:24 AM
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. and SANTA ANA, Calif.—
Johnson & Johnson Vision announced findings from a comprehensive, large-scale global eye health survey in advance of World Sight Day on Thursday, Oct. 8. The survey reveals both a disconnect in patient views toward the importance of eye health and how patients prioritize it as part of their overall health, as well as unique barriers to care and varying attitudes toward eye health specific to different regions, generations, and genders, according to the announcement on Tuesday.
By Staff
Thursday, October 1, 2020 9:13 AM
ALEXANDRIA, Va.—
The Vision Council and
Reed Exhibitions, organizers of Vision Expo, today have announced that Vision Expo East 2021, originally scheduled to take place from March 18-21, will now take place May 25-28, 2021 (Education: May 25-28; Exhibition: May 26-28) at the Javits Center in New York City. The date change reflects a proactive decision by the show’s organizers "in the interest of providing more time for companies to effectively plan their participation during this challenging period for the optical marketplace," the announcement said.