500 More LensCrafters Popping Up in Macy's/Macy's Sunglass Hut's Going to More Than 1800

"The world’s largest eyeglass maker has signed a deal with the U.S. department store chain Macy’s to open up to 500 LensCrafters optical retail centers inside Macy’s," notes NewEurope. "Macy’s and Luxottica already have a deal that has put 670 Sunglass Hut’s in Macy’s department stores, with the number tripling in the last six years. The companies said in a joint release that the latest deal builds on that 'seuccessful relationship.'
The first LensCrafters will open at a Macy’s location by April, with 100 slated to open by the end of the year [2016]. Luxottica’s chief of markets, Adil Khan, said the optical industry 'has incredible growth potential in North America.'" Read more.

Warby Parker’s Brick & Mortar Stores Seem a Success

“Warby Parker has made a name for itself by selling affordable, hipster-chic eyeglasses through a website, avoiding costly store expenses and licensing fees,” starts the Wall Street Journal post that appeared last week. “While that business has thrived, the startup’s promising next act is taking shape in a chain of storefronts dotting trendy retail neighborhoods from Boston’s Newbury Street to Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Los Angeles. Warby Parker is shaking up the glasses industry by offering home try-ons, online ordering and prescription frames for under $100. Co-founder and Co-CEO Neil Blumenthal discusses. Warby Parker’s eight brick-and-mortar stores are now collectively turning a profit, says Dave Gilboa, the company’s co-founder and co-chief executive. The stores sell an average of $3,000 a square foot annually, higher than most retailers not named Apple Inc.” Read more.

FFL Pumps Money into Eyemart Express

“San Francisco private equity firm FFL is investing in Eyemart Express,” reports Mergers & Acquisitions. “Eyemart, headquartered in Farmers Branch, Texas, is an optical retailer that has more than 150 stores in 30 states. The company sells private label and branded glasses, including Nike, Guess, Fendi, Calvin Klein and Armani.” Read more.

Database Server Goes Missing at Visionworks Store

More than five months ago, Visionworks, Inc., lost a database server from its Annapolis location on Jennifer Square. It went missing after it was replaced on June 2 during a scheduled upgrade. The company statement read: “The server potentially held partially unencrypted protected health information belonging to as many as 75,000 of the store’s customers. All credit card information housed on the server was encrypted, and therefore should not be at risk.” Thieves don’t make a habit of stealing encrypted servers. The company believes that the missing server accidentally was sent to one of the store’s local landfills, adding that there’s no reason to believe that any of the information residing has been accessed or used inappropriately. The retailer has notified the affected customers. It also is offering free credit monitoring for one year. Read more.

Luxottica Reportedly to Close 50 Sears Opticals

Two days after newspapers were reporting that Luxottica’s CEO Andrea Guerra was facing troubles, Vision Monday reports that Luxottica will close 50 Sears Optical locations.

Luxottica Retail’s Licensed Brands division will close 50 Sears Optical locations in the U.S., VMail has learned. The news was shared internally with associates. In response to a query from VMail, the company did not provide which specific locations would close, but a Luxottica spokesperson said, “Today, we are sharing the difficult, but necessary decision to close 50 Sears Optical locations across the U.S. The impacted stores have served their customers and communities well, but have struggled with results over time. The Sears Optical team is incredibly committed to the long-term, sustainable growth of the brand….”Read more.

U.S. Vision Now Runs Meijer Optical Centers

Meijer has selected U.S. Vision, Inc., as its exclusive vision center in Meijer stores across the Midwest. U.S. Vision, based in Glendora, N.J., is currently a tenant in 50 Meijer stores in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, and has plans to open 19 more vision centers in Meijer stores this year. All of its vision centers will be renamed "Meijer Optical" by the end of the month. Read more.

British Retailer’s Marketing Campaign Increases Sales

Marketing Week reports that the British retailer Vision Express “launched its ‘Vision. Taken Seriously’ campaign, created by agency Dare, last month and James White, Vision Express’s head of brand marketing, told Marketing Week that it has already helped push sales up by double-digit figures. He said the campaign is the first stage in plans to cement Vision Express as the authority in the industry.” Read more.

International Optical Retail News

In Sweden: Reuters reports that “private equity firm CVC Capital Partners has bought eyewear chain Synsam Nordic from Alipes, the investment firm controlled by Sweden's Kamprad family which also controls the world's largest furniture retailer IKEA, CVC said on Tuesday. CVC did not say how much it paid for Synsam, which had sales of around 3 billion Swedish crowns ($467 million) in 2013 and employs some 2,600.” Read more.

In India: “Retail eyewear chain Titan Eye Plus has sewn up plans for major expansion of its retail network of stores, adding 50-60 stores across the country in 2014-15 as its strengthens its presence with more brands, including Fastrack, Hipster and Glares,” according to Hindu Businessline. “Part of Titan Company Ltd of the Tata Group, the company opened its 96th store in South India and expects to hit the 100 stores mark shortly. It has a pan-India network of 278 stores operating across 106 cities.” Read more.

Eyewear Marketplace to Grow Globally at an Annual Rate of 3.2%

The global eyewear market should  reach $142.18 billion by 2020, according to a study by Grand View Research, Inc. Expanding wearer base coupled with increasing penetration of eyewear for vision correction will fuel the growth, according to Eyewear Market Analysis And Segment Forecasts To 2020.  Here are some of the key findings:

• Demand will increased with the early entry of children into the corrective eyewear as well as aging population. 
• Growing urbanization and disposable income, along with awareness regarding the need for protecting the eyes against UV rays has led to high demand for plano sunglasses. 
• Acceptance of alternative methods of vision correction including refractive surgeries may restrain growth. 
• Worldwide, the industry sold 2,750.3 million units in 2012. It will rise to 3,507.7 million units by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 3.2% from 2014 to 2020. 
• Spectacle frames and lenses accounted for over 50% of the total eyewear shipments in 2012, primarily resulting from perscription changes. Demand for high-index lenses should increase. 
• Plano sunglasses could grow at 8.1% CAGR, driven primarily by a high demand for premium-priced units. Polarized sunglasses contributed over 20% of overall shipments in 2012, with CR-39 expected to remain the largest lens material segment. 
• North America dominated global demand in 2012; while Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing regional market, at an estimated CAGR of 3.7% from 2014 to 2020. In terms of revenue, Europe accounted for over 40% of the total market in 2012, because of significantly high selling prices. 

The report is available at http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/eyewear-industry. Inquiry Before Buying at http://www.grandviewresearch.com/inquiry/32. 

FL LensCrafters Loses $580,000 in Sunglasses to Thieves

“A shady theft ring that targeted eyeglass retailer giant LensCrafters made at least $580,000 from illegal sunglass sales on eBay within 13 months, authorities said,” says the Sun-Sentinel. “Officials said the group of thieves — most of them from South Florida — hit LensCrafters across the state with distraction thefts, pocketing pricey sunglasses valued as high as $1,000 each. They have conducted at least eight heists in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties and in Central Florida. The first store to be hit was in Boynton Beach on Nov. 18, 2012.” Read more.

Retrosuperfuture Joins the Rush into Manhattan

“Italian eyewear brand Retrosuperfuture has opened their first flagship at 21 Howard Street,” reports Racked. “This is the sixth stylish optical shop to open in a half mile radius in the last year, joining Germany's Mykita, France's Anne et Valentin, the UK's Culter & Gross, the Internet's Warby Parker, and a Tortoise & Blonde shop-in-shop at Urban Outfitters. Exclusive to the new store is a style called Novanta, which was inspired by the City herself. The sunglasses are all black, from the frames to the lenses to the packaging.” Read more. It also has a great summary of the expansion of optical stores in Manhattan during the past year.

Owner of Vision Clinic Arrested on Fraud

“The owner of a Jackson [Mississippi] eye clinic is facing charges of Medicaid fraud, announced Attorney General Jim Hood today,” according to WJTV. “Barbara Faye Jones, 30, of Jackson, turned herself into authorities with the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Tuesday following recent indictment by a Hinds County grand jury. The indictment alleges that Jones, as owner/operator of Clear View Vision Care, did willfully, unlawfully and feloniously make, present and cause to be made and presented false, fictitious and fraudulent claims for more than $28,000 in Medicaid benefits, knowing the claims to be false, fictitious and fraudulent.” Read more.

J. Crew Honcho Joins Warby Parker as It Turns to Brick and Mortar

"Retailing icon Mickey Drexler is joining the board of Warby Parker, a move that adds gravitas to the three-year-old online eyewear maker as it expands into brick-and-mortar stores," reports Fortune magazine. "Drexler's directorship solidifies the informal relationship he had already developed with the company's co-CEOs, Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa. The J.Crew honcho has been having lunch regularly with Blumenthal and Gilboa and advised the two on scaling their business. He invested in Warby Parker in what Blumenthal says was "a meaningful way" earlier this year." Read more.

Best Image to Sell Only to Brick and Mortar Stores

In a bold effort to protect the optical dispensary and boutique from being “show roomed” to potential customers who intend to purchase online, Best Image Optical has had a firm company policy in which their eyewear brands (Dolabany Eyewear, Mario Galbatti, & Plume Paris) are only available through brick and mortar locations and not to be sold online or to chain-store discounters. They wanted their customers to rely and depend on that message. So far, they have received an overwhelming response from customers. Read more.

Refac and U.S. Vision to Buy Nationwide Vision

Refac Holdings and its subsidiary U.S. Vision, both based in Glendora, NJ, have signed an agreement to acquire Nationwide Vision. The 28-year-old optical chain has opened 64 locations and two surgery centers, making it the largest optical chain in Arizona and 19th largest in the U.S. Should the buy-out get the necessary regulatory approvals, Nationwide will become part of Refac by the end of this quarter. Refac’s main operating company, U.S. Vision, Inc., is the sixth largest U.S. retail optical chain with 769 stores.

Warby Parker Takes Advantage of Industry’s Weakness

Despite a high level of product differentiation and large number of players, the competition within the retail eyewear market in the US is not forcing prices down. The near- monopoly situation in the production and distribution of eyewear results in high mark-ups, according to a press release from the creators of a report about the online eyewear company, Fast Market Research. Warby Parker company saw the existing situation as a business opportunity and aims to create a beneficial alternative to the overpriced designer glasses. The company keeps its costs low and sells directly to consumers. Warby Parker has been exceeding its sales targets. Its existing customer base is one of the largest drivers of its growth. To see an overview of the report, follow this link.

Local Optical Shops and OD Offices Best Quality and Customer Service, Says Consumer Reports

“A new pair of prescription specs can run you hundreds of dollars. So how can you buy a good pair of glasses without leaving yourself seeing double over the cost?” That’s the start of Consumer Reports report on the retail eyewear industry. The results might surprise you. “One answer is to shop at Costco. The store topped our list of eyeglass retailers for overall satisfaction in Consumer Reports' 2012 survey of nearly 19,500 readers. Another option is to buy from eyeglass websites. Doing that, we were able to save as much as 40 percent, compared to buying at a walk-in optical chain store such as LensCrafters. The downside, of course, is that you have to wait for your glasses to be mailed to you, and it can be a hassle returning them if there's a problem. But if you don't mind paying more, or most of your purchase is covered by insurance, go for independent local optical shops or a private doctor's office, which got high scores for satisfaction from our readers and top marks for merchandise quality and customer service [italics our emphasis].” Read more. The report also offers good tips for your customers so you might consider letting them know.

Dallas Retailer Uses Video to Market Its Wares

Have you wondered how you can increase your market penetration? You might want to take a page from the Dallas-based retailer Goo Goo Eyes. It recently released the above video about 2013 trends in eyewear, which the company posted on its website and on YouTube. (It also could be used for in-store displays.) The video showcases the retailer’s broad selection of round glasses and sunglasses from designers including Theo and Oliver PeoplesRetro-inspired sunglasses. It also addresses new takes on cat eye sunglasses, mirrored lenses, aviators and round glasses. Read more.

What’s Behind Warby Parker’s Success? And What Came before It Jumped from the Virtual to Real World

“Before co-founding Warby Parker, [Neil] Blumenthal directed VisionSpring, a group that trains women in developing countries to sell affordable glasses in their communities…Research conducted by the University of Michigan demonstrated that users of VisionSpring eyeglasses experienced a 35% increase in productivity and a 20% increase in monthly income, Blumenthal points out. ‘In international development terms, that is a miracle.’" That’s part of the insight into Warby Parker by the University of Pennsylvania’s business analysis site Knowledge@Wharton.

At VisionSpring, Blumenthal found a “disconnect” between cost of manufacturing and the purchase price in the U.S. Then the article provides “background”: “One company -- Luxottica -- dominates the eyewear industry. As of 2012, Milan-based Luxottica's retail network consisted of more than 7,000 stores, including LensCrafters, Pearle Vision and Sunglass Hut stores.” The article notes that it owns the optical shops in Target and Sears, has chains in Europe and Asia; owns the brands Ray-Ban, Oakley, and Oliver Peoples; and designs/manufactures eyewear for the likes of Versace, Prada, Burberry, DKNY.

“It's an industry ripe for disruption, but because of Luxottica's heft, ‘it takes incredible creativity and brilliance’ to go up ‘against an opponent that has that much power,’ says Barbara Kahn, director of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Center at Wharton [the business school associated with UPenn].” Just as a recap: Warby Parker has established a successful online eyewear retail. It recently opened a shop in the SOHO section of Manhattan and plans to open another store in Boston opening this month on Newbury Street. Read more to understand how WP could change the eyewear retail market forever.

Cutler and Gross Open NYC Store

“The luxury eyewear label is set to open its first ever US store in New York City's famous SoHo neighborhood,” starts the post on Yahoo OMG!. “Cutler and Gross has been at the heart of London's luxury eyewear scene since the company was first founded in 1969 by Graham Cutler and Tony Gross. Each pair of the spectacles is handcrafted at the brand's factory in northern Italy, and can take up to four weeks to manufacture using a combination of traditonal techniques and cutting-edge materials.” Read more.