Market and strategy

With a strong portfolio of retail brands, Luxottica is well positioned to reach different segments of the market. The retail portfolio offers a variety of differentiation points for consumers, including the latest in designer and high-performance sun frames, advanced lens options, advanced eye care, everyday value and high-quality vision care health benefits.

As of December 31, 2009, Luxottica retail business consisted of 6,217 stores.

Optical retail

Luxottica’s optical retail operations are anchored by leading brands such as LensCrafters and Pearle Vision in North America, and OPSM, Laubman & Pank and Budget Eyewear, which are active throughout Australia and New Zealand. The Group also has a major retail presence in China, where it operates in the premium eyewear market with LensCrafters. Due to the fragmented nature of the European retail market, the Company does not operate optical retail stores in Europe outside of the United Kingdom, where in 2008 it increased its stake in the David Clulow chain, which sells both prescription and sun products. As of December 31, 2009, Luxottica’s optical retail business consisted of approximately 3,740 retail locations globally.

 

Sun and luxury retail

In 2009, Luxottica created a new global sun and luxury retail management group to support the Sunglass Hut, ILORI, The Optical Shop of Aspen and Bright Eyes brands.

Since the acquisition of Sunglass Hut in 2001, Luxottica has become a world leader in the specialty sunglass retail business. As of December 31, 2009, Sunglass Hut had 2,007 stores worldwide. In addition to 1,552 retail locations in North America, Sunglass Hut now has 278 corporate stores in Asia-Pacific (including Thailand, India and the Philippines), 66 in Europe, 78 in South Africa and 33 franchise locations in the Middle East.