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February 12, 2003
Contact:
Tom Davis
Troy Office of University Relations
334/670-3196
tomdavis@troy.edu
Office of University Relations
253 Adams Administration
Troy, AL 36082
(334) 670-3196
(334) 670-3274 (fax)
| TROY
STATE UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS PRESS RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 1-334-670-3196 |
| Industry
consultant, former Luxottica CEO to speak at TSU on Feb. 20 Cliff Bartow, retired CEO of the Luxottica Retail Group, North America, will continue the Sorrell College of Business’s Distinguished Speaker Series with a lecture on the Troy State University campus Thursday, Feb. 20. The event will take place in the Trojan Center Theatre for the Performing Arts at 10 a.m. and is open to the public. Admission is free. According to Dr. Thomas Ratcliffe, Dean of the Sorrell College of Business, the series is designed to expose TSU students to a broad range of outstanding business leaders. Past speakers have included J. Wiley Lott, Director of Real Estate for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Dr. Vance D. Coffman, CEO of Lockheed Martin, Michel Landel, CEO of Sodexho and Steve McMillan, CEO of Sara Lee. Bartow is an industry consultant who began his career with the Luxottica Group as Regional Manager of LensCrafters. As CEO of the Luxottica Retail Group, North America, Bartow was responsible for the company’s Retail division and its more than 2,600 locations across the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. The Luxottica Group, which is comprised of the LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut retail chains, continued to see record profit margins and expansion in its business under Bartow’s leadership. The Retail division is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Italy-based Luxottica Group, S.P.A., which is considered to be the world leader in the design, manufacture, marketing and distribution of prescription frames and sunglasses in the mid to premium-priced range. LensCrafters, the largest retail optical chain in the world, ranks as one of the most profitable retailers in the U.S., with $1.5 billion in revenues and profits at 16 percent of the operating income. In each of the last four years, LensCrafters has been named as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America.The company has also received the President’s Volunteer Action Award and the Award of Excellence in Corporate America Community Service from the Points of Light Foundation in Washington, D.C. Both honors were given in recognition of LensCrafters’s Gift of Sight Foundation, which has provided more than two million needy people with the gift of sight since its creation in 1988. Sunglass Hut is the largest sunglass retailer in the world, with revenues of $650 million and 40 percent of the market share of premium sunglasses in North America. Both Bartow’s daughter and son-in-law, Jenny and Tye Harvey, are TSU alumni. For additional information, contact the Sorrell College of Business at 670-3416. |