(PRESS RELEASE) CHICAGO, IL — Europa Eyewear, a family-owned designer and manufacturer of proprietary eyewear frames, announces its partnership with Blue Point Capital Partners, a mid-west investment firm. Blue Point Capital has made a meaningful investment in Europa to fuel its growth and expansion.
Founded by Alan and Cynthia Shapiro in 1977 and led today by the founders’ son Scott Shapiro, Europa is one of the largest independent eyewear companies in the United States. Employing a unique model within the industry, nearly all of the Company’s frame collections are proprietary trade and consumer brands supported by a fully employed salesforce. Europa’s focus on serving the independent optical market has garnered the Company best-in-class customer relationships, exceptional loyalty and above-market growth for decades.
“Blue Point’s industry-focused operating executives, optical experience and differentiated capabilities made partnering with them an easy choice,” said Europa CEO Scott Shapiro. “From the beginning, it was clear that Blue Point shared our vision for the future, but even more importantly, they shared our values. This was imperative given Europa’s unique culture and the role this plays in shaping the next chapter of our family’s legacy. Jerry and I are incredibly excited to work alongside the Blue Point team in this next chapter.”
“Over the past 46 years, Europa has provided our customers with best-in-class service and exceptional eyewear collections. The launch of premier eyewear brands STATE and American Optical, which are both manufactured in our state-of-the-art facility in Illinois, clearly positions us for our next stage of growth,” said Europa President Jerry Wolowicz. “Together, Europa and Blue Point are committed to strengthening the tremendous value and service we provide to our customers as well as expanding our product portfolio to address the needs of today’s consumers.”
This investment is supported by Blue Point’s decades of experience working with family-owned businesses and its deep knowledge of the optical space, underpinned by its transformative investment in Hilco Vision, a global leader in the distribution of optical products and accessories. In addition to Blue Point’s industry experience and value-added capabilities, Jeff Cole and Holly Rush, two highly accomplished industry leaders, will serve as advisors and board members to the Company, while providing guidance to the Europa Management team.
“Europa is an outstanding company — we are proud to support its leadership team, further strengthen its exceptional culture and provide a platform for growth by leveraging Blue Point’s value-added capabilities and future M&A,” said Blue Point Principal Evan Cottington.
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