Blog

April 3, 2020April 3, 2020

Safilo Extends Virtual Education Series

Safilo has extended their virtual education series which now runs through Thursday, April 9^th. As reported on Optik NOW March 25, Safilo Group kicked off a new virtual education platform, offering a series of educational webinars for its customers on various topics to enrich their optical practices while offices are closed or operating on limited schedules due to Covid-19.

Safilo customers can contact their sales rep to sign up or go to www.mysafilocanada.com to sign up directly.

Click HERE to see the calendar with the new dates and times.

April 3, 2020April 3, 2020

ZEISS Canada Offers Complimentary Protective Equipment for Reopening

ZEISS Canada is supporting eye care professionals by helping prioritize the health and safety of patients and staff. ZEISS, recognizing that having personal protective equipment (PPE) ready before reopening practices is important are offering complimentary ZEISS Breath Shield made for slit lamps at no additional cost.

“We are committed to our ECPs across Canada and the trust they have placed in ZEISS,” says Bryan Rossi, President of Carl Zeiss Vision Canada. “Here’s an opportunity for us to show our gratitude for their continued support by offering the Breath Shields at no charge. We have also implemented other key measures to help reduce the burden as they return back to their practice.”

ZEISS Breath Shield can be mounted on most current slit lamps and offers protection for both the patient and the staff. It creates a protective barrier while in close proximity during the examination.

To place your order, go to ZEISS Breath Shield and/or contact your ZEISS sales agents and representatives for any question.

Click HERE for the full press release.

April 2, 2020April 1, 2020

Barcelona Specs Launching Postponed to April 2021

COVID-19 is affecting everyone across the world in families, communities, businesses. Though the hope is that this crisis will be over in a few months, May 2020 is not the right time to launch Barcelona Specs, where the independent eyewear business is celebrated and supported. Therefore, in agreement with partner SILMO, Barcelona Specs has decided to postpone the launching of Barcelona Specs by one year.

The new dates for the first Barcelona Specs are April 10-11, 2021. A postponement of the fair to 2021 is best for the independent eyewear business, as both exhibitors and visitors have time to re-group and get back on their feet.

Barcelona Specs will be held at Fira Barcelona, Montjuic at Plaça d’Espanya.

Click HERE for the full press release.

April 2, 2020April 1, 2020

Vision Expo Announces Virtual Connections Program

Vision Expo announces Virtual Connections, a new program designed to encourage and facilitate conversations and virtual meetings for Vision Expo East 2020 exhibitors and attendees who had registered for the event that was postponed as a result of COVID-19. Launching in mid-April, Virtual Connections will offer various pathways for personal connections in a flexible and customizable format, including a digital concierge service.

“Following the prudent, yet difficult decision to postpone and consolidate Vision Expo East 2020 with Vision Expo West 2020, we realize it is more important than ever for members of the vision community to connect and collaborate,” said Fran Pennella, Vision Expo event vice president at Reed Exhibitions. “Virtual Connections is designed as a helpful tool to seamlessly connect Vision Expo East 2020 exhibitors and attendees who had registered to take part in the event. It is one of the ways we are continuing to serve the industry and to keep our collective community together during this unprecedented and unsettling time.”

For those scheduled participants of the postponed Vision Expo East 2020 seeking to make business connections with suppliers, Virtual Connections will offer one-to-one matchmaking services through a digital concierge. Through this customized system, a personal concierge from Reed Exhibitions, co-owner of Vision Expo, will coordinate virtual Zoom meetings between attendees and exhibitors, organizing every stage of the meeting, from initial scheduling to facilitating introductions during the meeting and distributing post-conversation follow-up surveys.

In addition to the concierge service, Virtual Connections will also offer several other ways to connect. All attendees who registered for Vision Expo East 2020 will receive personalized exhibitor recommendations, which will include exhibitor contact information. Additionally, pre-registered attendees will receive an online survey that they can take to pinpoint specific exhibitors they are interested in engaging with and having further conversations. The contact information for these exhibitors will be shared with the attendees accordingly.

To pre-register for Vision Expo West, taking place Sept. 23–26 in Las Vegas, visit visionexpowest.com and be sure to follow along on all of Vision Expo’s social media channels, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

April 1, 2020April 1, 2020

Trading Update on COVID-19, Outlook 2020 Withdrawn and Suspension of Share Buyback Program

EssilorLuxottica announces that in light of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the Company’s outlook for 2020 published on March 6, 2020 is no longer valid.

In January and February, the company delivered solid growth, in line with its full year targets. Business conditions began deteriorating in March as the virus shifted from impacting predominantly China to entire regions of Europe and North America. During the second quarter, the Company expects revenue to further decelerate with a material impact on profitability. At present, the Company has insufficient visibility to provide an assessment of the full scope of COVID-19 impact, as the situation remains volatile.

Essilor has temporarily closed all its industrial sites in France. Production continuity is ensured thanks to the company’s worldwide network of interconnected plants and laboratories. This includes all production facilities in China, which are now back to full speed and have spare capacity. E-commerce activities are growing with no back orders.

Luxottica’s manufacturing plants have temporarily suspended their activity in Italy and other smaller locations, while they are back to normal levels in China. Stores in Europe and North America are complying with the temporary lockdown measures that local governments are putting in place, while Company’s e-commerce platforms continue to operate globally.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the likelihood of prolonged uncertainty, EssilorLuxottica has decided to stop the implementation of its share buyback program announced on March 17, 2020.

Since March 17, 2020, 1.55 million shares for an average price of Euro 102.54 have been repurchased.

For the full trading update press release, click HERE.

Click HERE for the press release on the suspension of the share buyback program.