MILAN, Italy--The refocusing of its U.S. retail chains’ brand identities, particularly Pearle, an enhanced presence in Canada via an acquisition, and an expanded organization in mainland China, were among the issues discussed by Andrea Guerra, CEO of Luxottica Group (NYSE: LUX), during a conference call with investors and analysts last week, following the release of the company’s record Q2 results.

Guerra also said the company had engaged Goldman Sachs to “explore options” for the Things Remembered gift chain, which Luxottica acquired with Cole National. “We have analyzed what could be the real strategic project of Things Remembered. By end of the third quarter, we will be clear whether we will go on doing a,b, c or putting it up for sale,” he said.

Andrea Guerra

In addition to further defining the brand identities of its retail chains in the U.S. market, where general retail comp store sales were strong in the second quarter, Guerra described the renewed focus on Pearle as “entering an important second, new phase to put some valuable life into this fantastic brand,” citing the positive results of a recent Pearle franchisee meeting in the U.S. “We had great discussions, got the rules of the game back on the table. Our partners really appreciated the fact that we are back in advertising on newspapers and TV and are moving on more promotional activities. We are emphasizing clearer market segmentation in frames, lenses and contact lenses and enhanced service levels from our labs. It was very well accepted.” He noted, “We will be more clear on this plan in October.”

Luxottica has acquired the Ontario-based Precision Optical chain, where Guerra said the company’s market share would be enhanced. Luxottica Retail COO, Kerry Bradley told analysts, “LensCrafters is well penetrated throughout Canada, but we only have a handful of Pearle stores in the western part of Canada. Precision is a good, traditional chain, and we think this is a great way for us to begin the process for building the Pearle brand throughout Canada...Our expectation is to slowly relabel the stores as Pearle Canada; we are working on a transition plan.”

For Asia-Pacific, Guerra also cited a “new phase” of expansion, including the recent retail acquisition of the Xueiling 79-unit operation on the mainland, improvements in the Optical Shop chain in Hong Kong and an overhauled management organization for the region: “We’ve created a new management structure, adding some new people and are really treating this as a new, strong division. We are also working to have one unique shared service center for the countries in the region.”

Regarding LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut, Guerra said, “We are extremely happy of the work of our American team,” noting Sunglass Hut’s double-digit gains for the third consecutive quarter. With the North America retail chains, “We have been working on improving our average ticket price and lens segmentation, and results have been very, very positive in selling Rx sun and improving penetration of AR/antiglare lenses.” He noted that store remodeling will continue to be a focus at LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut over the coming months.

Of Target, Guerra said, “Our relationship with Target is positive; we are building something new there. We agreed to close 28 stores but will open about 20 to 22 new stores in SuperTarget in 2005.”

In general, Guerra said that as part of the Cole integration, Luxottica products’ penetration within the Licensed Brands stores hit about 10 percent in June, adding he was comfortable that the company would reach approximately 45 percent penetration of Luxottica products by the end of this year.