Europa Eyewear announces its partnership with Blue Point Capital Partners, a mid-west investment firm. Blue Point Capital has made a meaningful investment in Europa to fuel its growth and expansion.

Founded by Alan and Cynthia Shapiro in 1977 and led today by the founders’ son Scott Shapiro, Europa is one of the largest independent eyewear companies in the United States. Nearly all of the Company’s frame collections are proprietary trade and consumer brands supported by a fully employed salesforce.

“Blue Point’s industry-focused operating executives, optical experience and differentiated capabilities made partnering with them an easy choice,” said Europa CEO Scott Shapiro. “Blue Point shares our vision for the future, even more importantly, they share our values. This was imperative given Europa’s unique culture and the role this plays in shaping the next chapter of our family’s legacy.”

“Together, Europa and Blue Point are committed to strengthening the tremendous value and service we provide to our customers as well as expanding our product portfolio to address the needs of today’s consumers,” said Europa President Jerry Wolowicz.

This investment is supported by Blue Point’s decades of experience working with family-owned businesses and its deep knowledge of the optical space, underpinned by its transformative investment in Hilco Vision. In addition to Blue Point’s industry experience and value-added capabilities, Jeff Cole and Holly Rush, two highly accomplished industry leaders, will serve as advisors and board members to the Company, while providing guidance to the Europa Management team.

“Europa is an outstanding company — we are proud to support its leadership team, further strengthen its exceptional culture and provide a platform for growth by leveraging Blue Point’s value-added capabilities and future M&A,” said Blue Point Principal Evan Cottington.

Europa Eyewear Canada is a separate company and remains the exclusive Canadian distributor for Europa Eyewear brands including STATE Optical Co. and American Optical.

Click HERE for the full press release.

The World Council of Optometry (WCO), in collaboration with CooperVision welcomed more than 1,700 registrants representing 123 countries to its February 16 virtual event, “Myopia Management: Advancing the Global Standard of Care.”  The virtual event featured experts sharing their insights on the global standard of care and how they have made myopia management an integral part of their work. The event, which also features patient insights, is now available on demand at https://myopia.worldcouncilofoptometry.info/multimedia-resources/.

WCO President-elect Dr. Sandra Block said, “We know that optometrists worldwide are extremely busy with their practices and lives, limiting their time for watching webinars.  To help support them, the World Council of Optometry is pleased to now offer the “Advancing the Global Standard of Care” virtual event videos on demand so eye care professionals can learn the latest about myopia management as the standard of care when it is convenient for them.”

The WCO “Myopia Management: Advancing the Global Standard of Care”  presentations now available on demand explore the myopia epidemic through real stories told by patients and leading eye care professionals including: 

Prof. Seang-Mei Saw, MBBS, MPH, PhD, FAMS is the Distinguished Wallace Foulds Professor at the Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, and Co-Chair (Biomedical) of the NUS Institutional Review Board. Prof. Saw is internationally recognized as one of the leading researchers in the myopia field and has made major observations and key discoveries in the field of the epidemiology of myopia, characterizing the environmental, genetic, and anatomical predictors of myopia in children and adults in Singapore and worldwide.

Dr. Kai-yip Choi is a Research Assistant Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Optometry. He obtained his BSc and PhD degrees in Optometry in 2014 and 2021 respectively from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has been providing optometric clinical care in the university clinic since 2014.

Dr. Foo Li Lian is a consultant ophthalmologist with the Myopia Service and Refractive Department, Singapore National Eye Centre, and Myopia Centre of Excellence. Subspecializing in the field of myopia focusing on childhood myopia control as well as refractive and cataract surgeries, Dr. Foo aims to create the next generation of treatment modalities that can halt the relentless march of myopia.

Indie Grewal, BSc (Hons) MCOptom DipTp (IP) Prof Cert Glau FBDO FBCLA is a qualified dispensing optician and optometrist with more than three decades of experience within the optical industry.  As well as participating in contact lens clinical trials, he has a special interest in myopia management and multifocal contact lens fitting.

Jessica Haynes, OD, FAAO, FORS, Dipl ABO practices as consulting faculty in the Southern College of Optometry Advanced Care Ocular Disease clinic and as a full-time associate optometrist at Charles Retina Institute. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and the Optometric Retina Society and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry.

Yasmin Whayeb, BSc (Hons) MCOptom is an optometrist and PhD student at Aston University, Birmingham, UK. Her research interests include the progression and management of myopia in children, and the choroidal response to optical myopia intervention methods.

Kyle Klute, OD, owns and practices at Good Life Eyecare, a multilocation practice in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, certified by the American Board of Certification in Medical Optometry, and an editor for the Journal of Medical Optometry.

Visit the World Council of Optometry myopia management website, which features the standard of care resolution, pledge signup page, and multimedia resources center with searchable and sortable practical tools and information for optometrists at https://myopia.worldcouncilofoptometry.info/.

Click HERE for the full press release.