I Can See Clearly Now

Luxottica Group (Milan, Italy) says it will fully integrate its new acquisition, Cole National Corp. (Twinsburg, Ohio), and its Cincinnati-based North American retail division into one business.

Cole National’s retail store and field management systems — including its 2900 Cole Vision and Pearle Vision stores — will continue to operate as usual. Cole National’s corporate, administrative and service center functions will be consolidated from Twinsburg to Cincinnati. Cole’s Things Remembered mall-based giftware stores and kiosks will be managed separately from the company’s optical business.

Luxottica said that over the next few months, the group will study, review and confirm Cole National’s non-store operations, distribution systems, product mix, manufacturing labs, technology and other business areas. The goal is to identify maximum synergies, areas for improvement and opportunities for growing the brands.

“The integration of Cole National represents a key step in the strategy for future growth of our group,” said Luxottica chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio. “In fact, it further enhances our leadership position in the single most important optical market in the world, North America. This is something that has been at the core of our strategy since the acquisition of LensCrafters in 1995.”

Luxottica Group said it believes that the retail format and commercial model of Cole National are highly complementary to its existing operations in North America. “Together the two are stronger, more efficient and form a broader platform from which to generate additional synergies within retail, managed vision care, manufacturing and wholesale,” the company said in a statement. “This is also an important opportunity for Luxottica Group to enter new channels through Cole National’s presence in franchising and licensed brands.”