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Hot List: July 2009

1 Practical Millenials

Neil Howe, co-author of the books "13th Gen" and "Millenials Rising," says a generational change is taking place: "The new generation coming into rising adulthood, this new millennial generation, is much more oriented to planning, looking ahead, and taking a more sober and conventional approach," he said in a recent edition of Advertising Age.

2 Gen Y, Seniors Still Spending

Mediapost.com reports that higher-income seniors and Generation Y (also called Millenials, they're about 18 to 24 years old) aren't changing their spending behavior, unlike many other Americans. For instance, just 18 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds report buying more private or store brands, compared to a third of shoppers 45 years or older. The reason? They may not be as worried because they don't have houses or investments, says Mandy Putnam of the consulting firm Retail Forward.

3 MY MERCHANDISE MIX

Using customer relations management, loyalty, or point-of-sale data to tailor a store's product selection is one way retailers are adapting to changes in the marketplace.

Some national store chains, such as Macy's (through its My Macy's strategy), are already editing their merchandise mix to meet the needs of their local customer bases.

The goal is to boost the value of the brand in the consumers' eyes in addition to driving sales.

—Source: Retail Forward and PricewaterhouseCoopers report, "How Will This Recession Affect the Future of Retailing?"

Brownlee Takes Helm of Safilo North America

Ross Brownlee, a 12-year veteran of Safilo Group, has officially assumed his role as the new president and COO of Safilo North America, which was first announced by the Group in December 2008.

Brownlee, who recently relocated from Hong Kong and previously served as managing director of Safilo Far East, is now based at Safilo USA's Parsippany, N.J., headquarters and is responsible for the management and operations of Safilo USA, Safilo Canada, and Smith Sport Optics.

Brownlee now oversees optical and retail sales, product planning and development, licensing and marketing, operations, quality control, new business development, accounting, and finance for Safilo North America.

Brownlee first joined Safilo in 1996 as a regional area manager for Safilo Far East, where he was responsible for the sales and marketing initiatives of exclusive distributors for Safilo products across Asia. In 1998, he became Safilo's head of international travel–retail, also based in Hong Kong, where he played an instrumental role in establishing Safilo's international duty-free sales division. Brownlee was promoted to Safilo Far East regional sales director in 2000, a position he held until 2006, when he began his two-year tenure as the Safilo Far East regional commercial director.

Studies Show Online Awareness, Action among ECPs

Essilor of America has released the results of its Eyecare Professional Internet Usage & Attitude Study. In conjunction with ECP forums conducted by research partner Jobson Medical Information, Inc., the study information will be applied to the ultimate direction of future Essilor programming and planning.

Online interviews with ECPs nationwide found that 67 percent of ECPs surveyed believe online purchasing is a growing trend in the eyecare industry, although only 31 percent see online purchasing as the future of the industry.

ECPs predict that patients will be most interested in using the Internet for refilling contact lens orders (97 percent), ordering non-Rx sunglasses (90 percent) and uploading their picture to virtually try on frames (84 percent).

Recent research conducted by LWW VisionCare and Eyecare Business found that the vast majority of ECPs now get information relevant to their profession and practices via websites (97 percent) and email (92 percent). ECPs rated emails on clinical tips (59 percent) and practice and patient management strategies (50 percent) as the most important email communications received from eyecare companies. Eighty percent purchase practice products online.

Mike DiSanto Passes Away

Mike DiSanto, the prominent optical educator and writer, has passed away after losing his battle with stage IV pancreatic cancer.

He spent his career in the optical industry teaching basic and continuing education courses to thousands of ECPs, including opticians, optometrists, ophthalmologists, lab personnel, customer service personnel, and vendor representatives.

His educational materials and two books , "TOPS Dispensing Manual" and "ABO Certification Review," are considered industry standards.

His funeral was held on Saturday, May 30, 2009, at Saint Mary's Church in Hudson, Ohio.

Donations can be made to the Mike DiSanto Fund, c/o Opticians Association of Ohio, 1100 Brandywine Blvd., Zanesville, Ohio 43701.

Transitions Announces Scholarship Winners

Transitions Optical, Inc., recently awarded opticianry and optometry students with 18 scholarships totaling $10,000 through its Transitions Healthy Sight for Life Fund. Students were asked to develop projects that demonstrate an understanding of healthy sight. Scholarship amounts for both opticianry and optometry programs were $1,000 for first place, $750 for second place, and $500 for all other winners. Submissions were reviewed by a committee of Transitions representatives, ECPs, and communications specialists.

"Awarding the participants is a great joy, as we continually look for ways to support the future of our industry—most importantly through education." said Carole Bratteig, professional education manager, Transitions.

The winning opticianry entries were: first place: Ellen Gelsen, Hillsborough Community College; second place: Jelena Cakic, Cuyahoga Community College; third place: Kate Jacobs, Camden County College; fourth place: Abdallah Yeslam, Raritan Valley Community College; fifth place: Carole LoVerso, Erie Community College.

The winning optometry entries were: first place: Julia Tran, Southern California College of Optometry; second place: Bridget Ducote, University of Houston College of Optometry; honorable mention: Lisa Cossetto, Suhaib Al-Janabi, Kevin Nehaul, Judy Posner, and Elliot Snyder, Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry.

Winning students will also have their entries featured on the recently redesigned Transitions Healthy Sight for Life Fund website, www.HealthySightforLife.org.

On the Town

Essilor of America recently donated an Essilor Digital Corneal Reflection Pupilometer (DCRP) to The New England College of Optometry (NECO) as part of the company's commitment to investing in the education of future industry leaders. Denise Brady, brand sales consultant for Essilor of America, presented the pupilometer to the college on May 14. Photo 1, l. to r.: Elizabeth Chen, president of NECO; Blair Wong, NECO; Denise Brady; and Sen. Richard T. Moore (D-Mass.).

2. Connie Falvo, director, external affairs, Transitions Optical, Inc., surprised Tampa native Jennifer Frances on May 22 during CBS's "The Early Show" by adopting West Shore Elementary School in Tampa, Fla., in Frances' name. Transitions will provide free eye exams for all students and fit students in need with Transitions lenses. Frances was featured on the show's segment "Early's Angels" for her mobile literacy outreach initiative, "Bess the Book Bus."

3. Mykita recently opened a boutique in Vienna. The shop, located in the heart of the city on the famous Neuer Markt square, stocks all Mykita sunglasses and prescription frames plus a selection of models from other brands.

4. More than 70 travelers, including ECPs, distributors, HOYA representatives, and guests, recently returned from the seven-day trip to Spain that they won by participating in the HOYA Vision Care, North America, "Splendor of Spain" promotion. The winners toured Madrid's renowned Prado Museum and the Royal Palace, Toledo, Málaga, Spain, and Tétouan, Morocco.

5. Orgreen brought thousands of plastic balls into New York City's Artsee Optical store for an event during Design Week in New York. The store was also decorated with large prints explaining the design/manufacturing process through collages and story boards, and line designers Henrik Orgreen and Tobias Wandrup attended.

6. ClearVision Optical won 16 awards at the Long Island Advertising Club's 36th BOLI (Best on Long Island) Awards ceremony on May 12. Two of the awards are the "Best of Category" BOLIs for logo design for the Koodles kids' collection and a point of purchase display for IZOD PerformX.

Morel closed out 2008 by receiving the SILMO gold award in the "Style and Design" category, and this year won the "Paris, Capital of Creation" prize for the optical sector. This award recognizes the excellent work put on at the show for buyers and industry leaders from all around the world on the Paris market.

Better Vision Institute Holds Summit

The Better Vision Institute, an advisory board to The Vision Council comprised of ophthalmologists, opticians, and optometrists, held a Vision Summit in May to review research and develop strategies to increase awareness about eye protection. "By bringing together experts in the vision protection field, we can draw on each others' areas of expertise to really make a difference," said Tom Abbott, optician and chair of the Better Vision Institute.

The summit addressed four key areas of vision protection: work, home, sports, and UV. Attendees received new tools, resources, and contacts to help in their efforts to increase awareness of eye protection in their communities.

Phoenix Suns forward Amar'e Stoudemire joined the summit to share his recent personal experience: An eye injury and subsequent surgery to repair a detached retina following an on-court incident ended the all-star's season. "I am committed to wearing protective eyewear anytime I am on the court, and I encourage all athletes to do the same," he said.

Paul Berman, OD, was awarded the summit's Visionary Award for his dedication to sports protection. He is the team optometrist for the New Jersey Devils of the NHL and the founder and director of Special Olympics Opening Eyes, a program serving the visual needs of people with intellectual disabilities.

Trash to Treasure

What do you do with broken eyewear? Hand them over to local design students and let the magic begin! This is what happened when The Georgia Lions Lighthouse challenged local fashion design students to create clothing from broken eyewear parts.

The outfits were showcased at the organization's Second Annual Night of Spectacles fundraising event. Six area students created one-of-a-kind clothing adorned with donated temples, lenses, and frame fronts from unusable eyewear. Kristie Carlson, a fashion design student from Brenau University, won top honors and a $1,000 scholarship with her gold, lens-bejeweled gown, which came complete with a lace and lens collar.

Georgia Southern University's Andrew Zarzuela took second place with a flapper dress that featured gold and black painted lenses dangling from strings of black beads (see photo, right). All six outfits were auctioned off, and together with other items, raised $85,000 for the foundation.

Jewelry design students from the Savannah College of Art and Design also took part by creating frame prototype sketches. Selected designs will be produced and sold in a limited run by The McGee Group.

With 300 Atlanta area ECPs in attendance, two celebs—"Project Runway's" Mychael Knight and "Atlanta & Company's" Tom Sullivan—were there to judge the entries.

—Jenean Carlton