fyi

Tara Rosenzweig

PEOPLE

L to R: Transitions Optical's Grady Lenski; Carl Zeiss Vision's Steve Mitrakos and Steve Koufas; and Reliable Optics' Marlene Deutsch and Ken Donow Transitions Optical, Inc., has appointed Grady Lenski to the newly created position of director, Transitions Sunwear. He will be responsible for developing and implementing global business strategies to grow the emerging active sunwear category, including the Activated by Transitions lines. Grady previously served as marketing director, North America. Carl Zeiss Vision has hired Steve Koufos as vice president, marketing, for North America and named Steve Mitrakos vice president, customer marketing. Koufos will take on the overall responsibility for the company's branding and product marketing activities in the region, and Mitrakos is responsible for go-to-market and downstream responsibilities. Reliable Optics has appointed two regional account managers to its sales team. Marlene Deutsch will provide account management services to customers in parts of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. Ken Donow will be responsible for the New York City, Long Island, and Westchester regions. Safilo announced that Kyle LePack has been promoted to regional sales manager for the New York metropolitan area. Ronda Peklar-DeMay was promoted to a regional sales manager position for Northern California.

AWARDS

ACUVUE® OASYS™ Brand Contact Lenses for ASTIGMATISM received a Seal of Acceptance for Ultraviolet Absorbing Contact Lenses from the American Optometric Association's Commission on Ophthalmic Standards.

A recent Shamir Insight, Inc., advertising campaign including print and email ads was recognized for its creativity and use of multiple media, receiving a Silver Hermes Creative Award for an Integrated Marketing Campaign. The campaign hinted at the announcements the company would make at Vision Expo East. It has also been nominated for a Creative Excellence in Business Advertising (CEBA) Award.

At its 47th annual meeting, the Eye Bank Association of America presented the Gift of Sight Award to Peggy Hill, chair of the donation research team at MeritCare Health System in Fargo, N.D. The award honors a person who has had an impact on eye banking.

BUSINESS UPDATES

Essilor of America recently acquired two U.S. wholesale laboratories: Deschutes Optical, based in Oregon and Idaho, and Optimatrix, based in Alabama. Essilor has also acquired a majority interest in Nika GmbH, a lens wholesaler based in Germany. In addition, Essilor acquired Frame N' Lenses in Malaysia and Sankar & Co's ophthalmic division in India.

Eyefinity has announced a partnership with Enterprise Optical, an independently owned Michigan-based optical lab with over 28 years of serving private eyecare practices. Eyefinity's base of private eyecare professionals can begin using Enterprise Optical immediately for lab orders they place through Eyefinity.

Safilo announced the formation of a new sales concept focusing on its ultra luxury designer eyewear collections, including Alexander McQueen, Bottega Veneta, and Balenciaga. Each of these fashion\brands is manufactured under license by Safilo for Gucci Group, a leading luxury goods company.