Blog

February 10, 2020February 14, 2020

Essilor Joins Forces with United Nations in Global Efforts for Road Safety

Essilor announced it pledges a first of its kind donation of 1 million glasses and sunglasses to the United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNSRF), as they partner to promote global action on good vision for road users. The announcement comes ahead of the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference (February 19-20) in Stockholm, to set the agenda for achieving the UN 2030 goals for road safety.

Every day 3,700 people die on the world’s roads, making road accidents the leading cause of death among children and young adults aged 5–29. Preventing traffic-related injuries and fatalities is crucial to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on health, cities and infrastructure, where road safety plays an important role.

With up to 90% of the information needed on the road coming through our eyes, good vision is critical for drivers, bikers, cyclists and pedestrians to take safe and appropriate decisions. However, there is a substantial lack of awareness about the importance of good vision, and access to sustainable eye care remains limited in large parts of the world, with 1 in 3 people still suffering from uncorrected poor vision.

By partnering with the UNRSF, Essilor will leverage its track-record in vision care to contribute to safe mobility across the globe. In addition to the donation of 1 million glasses and sunglasses between now and 2030, a landmark year for the SDGs, the Group will continue to innovate for solutions to diagnose, correct, protect and enhance the vision of all road users.

This latest decision by Essilor to join the UNRSF further reinforces the Company’s commitment towards road safety, which goes back to Essilor’s partnership with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), signed in 2017, to jointly lead the fight against poor vision on the road.

Click HERE for the full press release.

February 10, 2020February 14, 2020

Safilo Acquires 61.34% of Privé Revaux

Safilo Group announces the acquisition of a 61.34% equity interest in the Miami-based company Prive Goods (“Privé Revaux”) through a simultaneous signing and closing.

David Schottenstein, the Company’s founding entrepreneur and CEO, retains ownership of approximately 15.5% of the equity, while the remainder is held by celebrities Jamie Foxx, Hailee Steinfeld and Ashley Benson, senior management of the Company, and certain other investors. Private equity fund TSG Consumer Partners and its affiliates sold their entire stake in Privé Revaux to Safilo Group and other equity holders of the Company.

Founded in 2017, Privé Revaux was built on a shared passion for style and quality with the goal of

disrupting the eyewear industry and making premium, quality eyewear products accessible to everyone. Privé Revaux has extended its assortment of affordable and quality frames beyond traditional sunglasses into blue light blocking glasses to combat digital eye strain. Since inception, Privé Revaux has carefully curated relationships with celebrities who wear and endorse its products.

In 2019 the Company recorded net sales of approximately USD 20 million, up around 90% compared to the previous year, and plans to continue strongly growing them in 2020. The overall consideration for the 61.34% controlling interest in the Company is USD 67.5 million.

David Schottenstein will remain CEO of Privé Revaux which will continue to run out of its Miami headquarters.

Click HERE for the full press release.

February 7, 2020February 7, 2020

Update on Proposed Acquisition of GrandVision by EssilorLuxottica

EssilorLuxottica and GrandVision N.V. confirm that the European Commission has initiated a Phase II review of the proposed acquisition of GrandVision by EssilorLuxottica.

The parties are confident that Phase II will be completed in a timely manner and will closely cooperate with the European Commission to fully demonstrate the rationale of the proposed acquisition and the benefits that it will bring to customers, consumers and all the eyewear industry players.

The companies reaffirm the shared objective to close the transaction within 12 to 24 months from the announcement date, July 31, 2019, in cooperation with the relevant authorities. The transaction has been unconditionally cleared so far in the United States, Russia and Colombia, and it is currently under review also in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Turkey.

Source: EssilorLuxottica

February 7, 2020February 4, 2020

Barcelona Specs: May 9-10, 2020

Since the very first eyewear trade fair almost seven years ago, the ambition of copenhagen specs’ CEO/Founder Morten Gammelmark has always been to support and promote independent eyewear. To get the stories behind all the fantastic independent brands told, to show the opticians what a great mix of eyewear brands there are in the world, and make the opticians bring the independent brands to their shops and tell the stories to their customers.

On May 9-10, 2020, the doors of the Italian Pavilion, Fira Montjuic at Plaça d’Espanya will open to the very first edition of Barcelona Specs.

The unique fair concept will be the same as the fairs in Copenhagen and Berlin, with small booths, focus on the product and a cosy and very unique atmosphere.

Independent eyewear brands will include Etnia Barcelona, Moscot, Garreth Leight, Barton Perriera, RES/REI, Cazal, Xavier Garcia, Woodys Barcelona, Kaleos, lafont and Morel, amongst many others.

Morten Gammelmark, Founder/CEO of Barcelona Specs says: “We are very happy to bring this unique eyewear fair concept to Barcelona and open the doors for the first time soon. We have already experienced a lot of interest from both eyewear brands and opticians, who want to visit. Together with our partner, SILMO, the long-time promoter of eyewear excellency, we will continue to work hard to ensure, that the first edition of Barcelona Specs will be a great eyewear fair for south Europe at springtime.”

Click HERE for the press release.

February 6, 2020February 4, 2020

Safilo Canada Hosts National Sales Meeting

Safilo Canada held its National Sales Meeting in January, at the Andaz Luxury Hotel in Ottawa, ON. The event brought together members of the sales force, key accounts, retail chains as well as members of brand management, trade marketing and other commercial team support staff from the company’s Canadian headquarters in Montreal, QC and North American headquarters located in Secaucus, NJ.

The theme of the high-energy event was “Everything is Possible”. One of the meeting highlights was a motivational keynote on sustaining high performance teams by honored guest speaker Dr. Kimberley Amirault-Ryan, who has worked at five Olympic Games with the gold medal winning Women’s Hockey, Cross Country Ski and Speedskating teams.

Her inspirational presentation described the hard work done behind the scenes to attain the highest levels of success in professional sports which she was able to translate into best practices for the Safilo sales team to unlock their fullest potential for sustained high performance.

As part of the four-day event, guests were treated to a cocktail and awards dinner gala honoring top sales achievers. Awards such as Top Synergy Market, Top Growth, Top Rookie and Presidents Club were presented.