Guillaume Bonniol (l) and Jason Singh, OD.
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MASON, Ohio—Luxottica Retail has created a new Retail Optical North America (RONA) eyecare function, “aimed at making Luxottica the brand of choice for doctors,” VMail has learned, based on an announcement made internally this week by Nicola Brandolese, president of global retail, Luxottica.

The new function and approach will be led by Guillaume Bonniol, who will serve as VP of eyecare, group directed care and retail strategy. The goal of the new initiative is “to focus on expanding the value proposition for doctors, raising standards through technology and service and improving doctor communications, all making it easier for doctors to focus on providing excellent patient care,” the announcement said.

Reporting to Bonniol will be Ben Chudner, OD, who will be senior director of eyecare, and Mark Jacquot, OD, who will serve as VP and clinical director, vision care operations.

Also, as part of the company’s efforts to create a “center of excellence” for eyecare, the announcement said, Jason Singh, OD, has been named chief medical officer for Luxottica Optical Retail N.A., a new position. He will be the strategic face of Luxottica Retail in the optical industry, leading OD recruiting, sourcing and events, in addition to remaining a member of the Pearle Vision leadership team. Singh took on a new role with the organization with Pearle in January, as VMail reported.

A Luxottica spokesperson told VMail, “This team will put a renewed focus on recruiting the best doctors centrally—depending on where they are in their career or life cycle, Luxottica will have an option that works best for them, whether they are just starting out, want to own their own practice and so on. For the benefit of Luxottica’s affiliated ODs at its optical retail brands, the company is essentially putting a central ‘A-Team’ together (tapping into expertise that was previously scattered among brands) to focus on the eyecare delivery model. This means expanding the value proposition, sharing best practices with doctors, providing better doctor support, better technology—all of the things that make delivering eyecare easier and more fruitful for them in the long term.”

RONA is the North American retail division of the Luxottica Group (NYSE:LUX) including LensCrafters, Pearle Vision and Licensed Brands (Target Optical and Sears Optical).