Safilo Group announces its return to Vision Expo West.  Safilo will be present with a newly designed booth space from which to greet all show attendees from Thursday, September 15^th to Saturday, September 17^th. 

 (The Park – Booth #P14022)

“Vision Expo West is an amazing opportunity for us to support our industry and celebrate our people, products and heritage with our customers. We are excited to be present in very impactful ways with our inviting new open booth concept, educational offerings, two customer events and industry sponsorships. It’s also the perfect occasion to officially, as well as publicly, unveil our new campaign for North America in which we are defining “partnership” – with a fresh new approach, reinforcing our focus on embracing modern ideas – while showcasing our incredible Safilo team and all that they do,” says Rinaldi Ceroni. 

The open concept booth will provide a very welcoming and inviting environment with seating areas to meet and greet and reconnect with Safilo.  The front area of the booth will feature Safilo’s newest Carolina Herrera collection, which launched at Vision Expo East in March, while the interior space will serve as a lounge area with a large video screen and additional monitors.  Several frame brands will be showcased inside the booth including Carrera, BOSS, kate spade new york, and Under Armour.The back of the booth will include an additional seating area with product housed in the center.  A dedicated order-writing area will provide an exclusive selling environment for customers and sales representatives to view the company’s complete product portfolio.

For its 60^th anniversary in North America, Safilo celebrates its commitment to People, Product and Planet with an exciting new campaign for North America, starring several Safilo USA employees and sales team members, which will make its formal debut inside the Safilo booth at Vision Expo West.

In line with the corporate purpose-led strategy, the new North American campaign is a “twist” on presenting definitions for important key words such as Vision, Connect, Product, Service and People that commensurate with the company’s values and promise.  

60^TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

On Friday, September 16^th at 2:30pm (PT), show attendees, Safilo’s customers and the media are invited to the Safilo booth to join Safilo Group’s CEO Angelo Trocchia and the new President & CCO of North America, Francesco Rinaldi Ceroni, for a celebratory prosecco toast – complete with customized cookies – to commemorate Safilo Group’s 60^th anniversary of commercial presence in North America.

Click HERE for the full press release.

A former University of Waterloo professor has made the largest donation to the School of Optometry & Vision Science in the institution’s history.

On Thursday, the university said it received a gift of $1.5 million from George Woo, a former UW professor and student, and Judy Woo.

“The University will celebrate with the naming of the George & Judy Woo Centre for Sight Enhancement at a ceremony taking place Thursday,” the institution said in a media release.

George Woo earned his optometry degree at Waterloo in 1964 and taught in the School of Optometry & Vision Science for 26 years.

The university said he developed the low vision program at Waterloo and was the founding director of the Centre for Sight Enhancement, which will now bear his name.

According to his biography on the UW website: “All our children grew up in Waterloo,” said Woo. “We enjoyed ourselves enormously in those years at the University of Waterloo, and participated in all kinds of activities around the city during that period.”

Woo now lives in Hong Kong and is the dean of the faculty of health and social sciences and chair professor of optometry at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Source: University of Waterloo School of Optometry

With approx. 1,500 industry professionals and buyers attending the Firenze show, 100 companies and 170 Italian and international brands, DaTE has indeed proven itself an essential event for the entire eyewear industry, which in Italy generates more than 4 billion euro in turnover and employs a workforce of 18,000.

“Before the show opened, we had hoped to match last year’s good performance, and we did,” acknowledged DaTE President Giovanni Vitaloni. We are pleased with the outcome and with the quality of the professionals ‒ both exhibitors and visitors ‒ who participated. Attendance by international buyers was also good, aided, in part, thanks to our partnership with ITA (Italian Trade Agency). Again this year, DaTE delivered the best our independent eyewear market has to offer, staying true to its mission as an exhibition of the avantgarde.”  

The interest in the event was also confirmed through the social channels: more than 750,000 total users who followed DaTE, for a total of 2 million views and over 60,000 interactions with posts published on Facebook and Instagram.

This year, DaTE continues October 17^th in Milan, with a special non-commercial event open to everyone. Known as MEDD by DaTE – Milano Eyewear Design Day, it caters not only to industry professionals and the press, but also to enthusiasts, designers and students ‒ a space for creative exchange and reflection on design, with an emphasis on eyewear.

The MEDD by DaTE calendar of events can be found at https://dateyewear.com/medd/.

Source: DaTE

FYiHealth Group announces that it reached an agreement to acquire WestGroupe. Following this announcement, WestGroupe will continue to operate independently from FYi Health.

“We are delighted to welcome the WestGroupe team to FYi Health Group,” said Dr. Alan Ulsifer, Chair, and CEO of FYi Health Group.

The optical and eyecare market is changing, with new entrants constantly trying to disrupt the current procurement of eye care and eyewear.

One of the main goals of this acquisition is to work with our industry colleagues and grow as a team to advocate for fair wholesale pricing in the market. This partnership will have a material positive impact for both FYidoctors and WestGroupe customers.”

“Since its inception, WestGroupe has strived to be a leader in the North American optical industry by constantly trying to have a forward-looking approach to our business and industry. Our focus will always be to ensure that independent ECPs have the products and programs they need to be competitive in this ever-changing marketplace. 

Our partnership with FYiHealth Group will allow us to develop new ways to add value to our customer base. WestGroupe will continue to operate separately under the direct management of the Suliteanu family and Mike Debono.

FYiHealth Group was formed with the vision that doctors joining forces would be the future of the profession and the industry.

We are proud to be joining a team that has been a fierce advocate of this amazing industry we have in Canada,” said Michael Suliteanu, President of WestGroupe.

Terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

Click HERE for the press release.

SFK 261’s Blue Mango acetate frames are colourful and exciting, while its square shape is a fan favourite. Crafted specifically with a flexible spring hinge, extra comfort and fit are provided to ensure satisfaction. Its yellow and blue hues seamlessly integrate to produce
a final look that the children will simply adore. Also available in Grey Teal and Crystal Marmalade.

Distributed by: www.westgroupe.com