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This year’s Sunglasses Workshop & Awards were the biggest ever |
DFS Group was among the big winners at this year’s Sunglasses Awards, scooping three out of the six award categories, including Sunglasses Retailer of the Year.
Runners-up for the category include Gebr Heinemann, Nuance Group and World Duty Free Group.
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All award winners from the Sunglasses Awards take the stage |
DFS Group also won Best New In-store Environment for Sunglasses for its Scottswalk Galleria, Singapore and the Innovation Award for its Galleria at Hysan Place. Other winners include Kappé for Best Dedicated Sunglasses Sales Team at Amsterdam Schiphol and The Nuance Group for Best Standalone Sunglasses Concept for Sun Catcher, Zürich.
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DFS Group sweeps the awards with three top place finishes |
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Kappé won the award for Best Dedicated Sunglasses Sales Team at Amsterdam Schiphol |
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DFS Group also took home the hardware for Best New In-store Environment for Sunglasses for Scottswalk Galleria, Singapore |
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The Nuance Group won Best Standalone Sunglasses Concept for Sun Catcher, Zurich |
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CDFG won for Best Off-Airport Retailer for Sanya Downtown |
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Another win for DFS Group as it picked up the Innovation Award for Hysan Place |
The event took place at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes last week at The Scene. Winners were chosen by a panel of six judges (named below), who also took part in the panel session that preceded the awards earlier in the evening event.
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The Sunglasses Workshop attracted a record crowd of over 150 executives |
The panel said: “The difficult decisions the judges had to make this year are testament to the strides being made in sunglasses retail.
“The category continues to be one of the most dynamic and exciting in travel retail and we must salute all those shortlisted for their efforts, with particular congratulations going to our award winners.”
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Luxottica’s Francis Gros delivers an update on the performance of the sunglasses category |
The evening kicked off with a category performance update from Luxottica Group Travel Retail and Boutiques Director, Francis Gros, who cited the latest research from Generation. Gros said the category has nearly doubled in size over the last four years. Sunglasses sales grew by +14% in 2012 – a sizable number compared to the total travel retail market, which grew +9.4% versus 2011 figures.
Sunglasses sales are predicted to hit US$2.8 billion by 2015 with a required compound annual growth rate of +26% from this year onwards, Gros went on to tell the audience, adding that this growth, “requires a step up from the current growth trajectory, through innovation, partnership and shared risk and reward.”
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The panel session was moderated by The Moodie Report’s Martin Moodie |
Gros also took part in a panel session that followed, which included some of the category’s key players including De Rigo Vision Duty Free Manager Enrico Molin, Marcolin Duty Free & Travel Retail Manager Chiara Polverini, Marchon International Travel Retail Director Erwan Le Guennac, Maui Jim Director Duty Free Sales Giles Marks and Safilo Global Travel Retail Director Francesco Leccisi.
The theme of this year’s event was, “˜From Passenger to Customer’ with topics covered including differentiation versus domestic retail channels, product technology, tailored merchandising strategies and overall category management.
