Safilo
 |
|
| Public | |
| Traded as | BIT: SFL |
| Industry | Fashion, manufacturing, retail |
| Founded | Pieve di Cadore, Italy, in 1934 |
| Headquarters | Padua, Italy |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
|
Key people
|
Guglielmo Tabacchi (Founder), Luisa Delgado(Chief Executive Officer) |
| Products | Sport and fashion sunglasses, spectacle frames, ski helmets and goggles, bike helmets |
| Services | Opticians, sunglass retail |
| Revenue | €3.08 billion (2014) |
 €31.4 million (31 March 2011)
|
|
| Profit |
€18.4 million (31 March 2011)
|
|
Number of employees
|
8,108 (2011) |
| Website | www.safilo.com |
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[update], it was the second largest optical frame and sunglasses company after Luxottica.
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. Exports in the 1930s 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, gained full control of American eyewear company Starline Optical Corp, then sunglass-maker Friuli-based Oxsol and was listed 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.
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Wikipedia