Safilo Group S.p.A. is an Italian company that designs, produces and distributes prescription frames, sunglasses, sports eyewear, ski goggles and helmets, and cycling helmets under its own five house brands and 22 licensed brands.
Their products are primarily manufactured in three Italian facilities with an additional plant in Slovenia, one in United States and one in China, and are marketed in 130 countries worldwide.
As of 2012, it was the second largest optical frame and sunglasses company after Luxottica.
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History
Safilo Group S.p.A. was founded in 1934 after Guglielmo Tabacchi purchased Italy's first industrial complex for producing lenses and frames in Pieve di Cadore. In the 1930s, exports expanded to many European countries, North Africa, the Middle East and South America. During the second world war, Safilo was forced to produce only one type of eyewear, a celluloid frame in two colours, amber and reddish Havana brown, that were all sent to Germany. After the war, exports to other European nations resumed and operations expanded to Rome and Milan with exports beginning in the United States. In 1974, the founder of Safilo died and his sons took over running the business. In the 1970s, Safilo opened sales offices in various European nations, patented the Elasta hinge, and introduced a popular UFO model of sunglasses.
In the 1980s, Safilo developed designer collections and gained full control of American eyewear company Starline Optical Corp. He subsequently acquired then sunglass-maker Friuli-based Oxsol and listed Safilo on the Milan Stock Exchange. In the 1990s, Safilo entered the Asian market in Hong Kong, opened branches in more European nations, South Africa, Japan and Brazil, acquired American sports eyewear maker Smith Sports Optics, Inc, and Austria's Carrera Optyl.
In May 2001, Safilo Chairman Vittorio Tabacchi began a takeover bid in which he acquired full ownership of Safilo. The company returned to the Milan Stock Exchange in December 2005. Also in 2001, the company inaugurated its new centralized warehouse at its Padua headquarters, a state-of-the-art structure with highly automated facilities. At this point, the distribution platform consisted of three main centres, located in Padua; Parsippany, New Jersey; and Hong Kong. In 2002, Safilo acquired the Solstice chain in US.
In 2008 and 2009, Hal Holding NV increased its ownership to 37.23% of the company.
In December 2013, Henri Blomqvist, formerly of Procter & Gamble, was appointed its new global commercial director.
For the fiscal year 2014, revenues at Safilo stood at 1,178.7 million euros (1,277.8 million dollars) representing a 5.1 percent rise against 2013, and revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2014 was 11.2 percent against the fourth quarter of 2013. In the first quarter of 2015, the turnover of Safilo in Europe was up 2.6 percent or over 2.8 percent at constant exchange rates.
Safilo owns its private collection about the history of eyewear and of the company.
Safilo Brands
The core Safilo brands are:.
- Carrera
- Polaroid
- Safilo
- Oxydo
- Smith Optics
Licensed Brands
The company also creates eyewear under license for designer labels such as:.
- Bobbi Brown
- Céline
- Carlos Cast
- Dior
- Fendi
- Gucci
- Havaianas
- Boss Orange
- Hugo Boss
- Jimmy Choo
- Juicy Couture
- Marc Jacobs
- Marc by Marc Jacobs
- MaxMara
- Max&Co.
- Pierre Cardin
- Tommy Hilfiger
- Swatch Sunglasses
Only for the American market:.
- Fossil
- J.Lo by Jennifer Lopez
- Kate Spade
- Liz Claiborne
- Saks Fifth Avenue
- Banana Republic
Sales
In 2010, the Safilo Group's revenues were up 6.8% over 2009, with net sales at EUR1,079.9 million or EUR1.1 billion. Sales have been determined by prescription frames (38%), sunglasses (54.3%) and sport and other products (7.7%). Safilo's products are primarily sold to wholesale clients through approximately 80,000 points of sale in about 130 countries in the world.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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