Following the COVID-19 emergency in a little over a month, beginning in mid-March, Salmoiraghi & Viganò, the largest Italian franchise, revolutionised its work model over the entire country. The brand has invested greatly in the definition of a new health and safety protocol for employees and customers in stores, in innovative services and in digital systems to cope with the new restrictions imposed by the pandemic and to guarantee an essential service such as vision wellness to many Italians.
Recognised in accordance with the government orders as an essential service, the eyewear retail sector in Italy today, like the many other industries, faces the challenge of work continuity and restart in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the industry sector, the role of the actual retail store and of the direct relationship with the optician remain central. For this reason, the chain has launched an operational model throughout the entire country to continue to be close to its customers and their vision needs.
Approximately 300 stores over the entire national area, in retail locations with the Salmoiraghi & Viganò brand and VistaSì eyewear corners in large-scale retailers, open their doors to the public with reduced, flexible schedules to serve their customers with distanced access or by appointment, guaranteeing urgent care and essential services such as delivery or eyeglass replacement, repairs or the possibility of purchasing high power range and difficult to find contact lenses. The Company has further introduced strict protocols for the cleaning and sanitising of surfaces in all of its retail stores, for the instruments used during examinations and for the eyeglass frame models on display in the store and sanitised after they have been tried and for the management of the internal areas and for the personnel, with the availability of masks, protective eyewear and gloves where necessary, as well as specific sanitising detergents.
The response has been significant and of great encouragement to the personnel, both in terms of calls made to the national freephone number and of appointments booked for each new day the stores are open, with messages of appreciation and gratitude received for the service offered during the emergency also from the healthcare and medical world on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19.