Safilo Group

Safilo Group S.p.A. (acronym of "Società Anonima Fabbrica Italiana Lavorazione Occhiali") 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 32 licensed brands, including Smith Optics who make military grade eyewear.
Their products are manufactured in their Italian facilities and they also have an additional plant in Slovenia, one in United States and one in China, and are marketed in 130 countries worldwide.
, it was the second largest optical frame and sunglasses company, after Luxottica.
History.
It was in 1878 that a manufacturing site was first opened to produce lenses and frames in Calalzo di Cadore, in the Venetian Alps. The Safilo name dates back to 1934, when Guglielmo Tabacchi bought this first Italian production site and founded a new eyewear company, making it the oldest player in the Italian eyewear industry.
During the years, the Group exports 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 and gained full control of American eyewear company Starline Optical Corp. He subsequently acquired then sunglass-maker Friuli-based Oxsol and listed Safilo 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; Denver, Colorado; and Hong Kong.
In 2002, Safilo acquired the Solstice Sunglasses chain in US, which was then sold in 2019 to focus exclusively on the wholesale business model.
In January 2019, HAL Holdings N.V. thorugh its subsidiary Multibrands Italy B.V.'s stake in the share capital of Safilo increased to 49.8%, following the capital increase approved by the Shareholders' Meeting on October 29, 2018.
In 2020, the Group completed the acquisition of Blenders Eyewear and Privé Revaux, two digitally native brands powered by a strong e-commerce business model which go to enrich the proprietary brands portfolio in a crucial moment for the Group’s development and for the evolution of the industry.
Safilo owns its private collection about the history of eyewear and of the company.
Safilo Brands.
The core Safilo brands are:.
Sales.
Safilo closed 2020 with net sales of Euro 780.3 million, down 15.2% at constant exchange rates and 16.9% at current exchange rates compared to Euro 939.0 million recorded in 2019, due to the sharp decline suffered in the first half of the year following the severe lockdowns put in place by governments globally to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
The business rebound recorded by the Group in the third quarter, followed by the positive net sales performance achieved in the fourth quarter allowed Safilo to post an H2 2020 net sales growth of +4.5% at constant exchange rates, +0.4% at current exchange rates, reaching Euro 444.7 million compared to Euro 443.1 million in the second half of 2019.
In 2020, Safilo’s organic business, excluding the acquisitions of Blenders Eyewear and Privé Revaux, declined by 21.9% at constant exchange rates, -21.5% at the wholesale2 business level, while the contribution of the newly acquired Blenders Eyewear and Privé Revaux equalled Euro 61.8 million for the full period of consolidation, with the two businesses together growing by +66% on a pro-forma performance basis4, thanks to the surge of their e-com activities.
In 2020, Safilo’s total online sales, including acquisitions, almost tripled compared to 2019, accounting for around 13% of the Group’s total net sales, from around 4% in the previous year. 