News that Montreal-based eyewear brand BonLook was closing 11 out of its 35 stores, just over a year after being acquired by FYidoctors, highlights the increasingly competitive nature these days of that retail industry.
Walk into any major shopping centre today and you’re bound to come across several optical retailers within a few walking steps of each other.
And in the past couple of years, Canada has attracted a number of international retailers eager to launch their brands in this market.
Why?
First, Canada has been under-served in the market. Second, it’s a recession-proof business in many ways. As the population ages, more and more potential customers are entering the market and in need of eyewear.
George Minakakis, Principal of Inception Retail Group, a former Country Manager and CEO with Luxottica and author of The New Bricks & Mortar Future Proofing Retail, says the market is going to get even more competitive, particularly with Specsavers setting the tone with price.
In this video interview, Minakakis discusses the closure of BonLook locations, whether the eyecare market is over-saturated right now, why international retailers are setting up shop in Canada, and what retailers have to do to be competitive in order to survive.
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Connect with Mario Toneguzzi, a veteran of the media industry for more than 40 years and named in 2021 a Top Ten Business Journalist in the world and the only Canadian – to learn how you can tell your story, share your message and amplify it to a wide audience. He is Senior News Editor with Retail Insider and owner of Mario Toneguzzi Communications Inc. and can be reached at mdtoneguzzi@gmail.com.
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