Nov. 5, 2020 — Hilco Vision has acquired Hamburg, Germany-based reader glasses company I Need You (INY), which went into effect on Oct. 30, 2020.

"We have continued to build our European footprint since the acquisition of Breitfeld & Schliekert (B&S) in Germany in 2015,” says Ross Brownlee, CEO of HIlco Vision. “The market-leading I Need You brand of ready readers is synonymous with quality, service, design, and breadth of offering. We have a strong admiration for the professionalism and market orientation the Gellermann family has brought to the category since founding the company in 1993. We are truly excited to leverage their experience and capabilities as we strive to delight our customers with category leadership in all our product offerings.” 

NY Founder Uwe Gellermann and Neele Schierholz, the company’s joint managing director, will continue in their leadership roles as part of Hilco Vision, working in partnership with the Hilco Vision European leadership team of Frank Thiel and Bernd Pigorsch. 

"We are very proud of the products and service levels that have brought recognition and success for I Need You in Germany and throughout Europe,” says Gellermann. “We felt that partnering with Hilco Vision would ensure the brand would continue to grow and find new customers globally."

"We are a very customer-centric organization and, importantly, we felt a very strong alignment of values between the two companies,” says Schierholz.