PEOPLE People By Staff Monday, February 12, 2018 12:00 AM Shawn Deckert Brian McCrea Meera Dua Lora Devuono Acuity Eyecare Group Strengthens Management Team With Addition of Four Senior Executives DALLAS—Acuity Eyecare Group, which was formed by Riata Capital Group in 2017, has bolstered its management team with the addition of four experienced executives as it further supports practices in the group’s holdings and prepares to continue expanding this year. Acuity, as VM reported, launched last March with a strong platform following the simultaneous acquisition of three cornerstone regional eyecare groups: Crown Vision Center, based in St. Louis; Eyetique, based in Pittsburgh, and International Eyecare Center, based in Quincy, Ill. The recent additions to the Acuity management team are Shawn Deckert, as vice president of operations; Brian McCrea, as vice president of strategic initiatives; Meera Dua, as chief merchandising officer; and Lora DeVuono as chief marketing officer. “These most recent hires enable Acuity to be very well poised for continued growth and expansion across the country,” according to the company’s announcement. New chief merchant Dua began her career in optical at Cole Vision Corporation, and she subsequently held various leadership roles with Sears Optical, Target Optical and Pearle Vision. With the acquisition of Cole Vision by Luxottica, Dua continued to diversify her experience. She took on high-profile merchandising positions within Target Optical, LensCrafters, GMO, product development and also led category management for all optical divisions. DeVuono, who has experience in brand marketing and advertising, began her career at General Mills and then spent 20 years in multiple leadership roles at PepsiCo within Quaker Oats and Frito Lay. As SVP/ group vice president of brand marketing and advertising at Frito Lay, she led the entire marketing team and a powerful portfolio of multibillion dollar brands. Deckert, who began his optical career more than 25 years ago, has a broad range of eyecare experience that spans independent optical companies as well as some of the most iconic brands in the industry, including Target Optical, Oakley, LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut International. As vice president of operations at Target Optical, Deckert was instrumental in leading a turnaround by focusing on culture. McCrea, who brings 25 years of experience within the optical industry, most recently was vice president of Central and LensCrafters Manufacturing for North America. He is best known for his results-oriented leadership style and successful implementation of large-scale organizational initiatives, according to the announcement. McCrea also has worked with Luzerne Optical, Lens Lab, Northeastern Eye and the LensCrafters unit of Luxottica. He spent 19 years with Luxottica and progressed through several key leadership roles. Rex Adams EyeSouth Partners Appoints Rex Adams as Chief Executive Officer ATLANTA—EyeSouth Partners, a network of integrated eyecare practices located throughout Georgia and the Southeast, has named Rex Adams as chief executive officer, according to an announcement. He assumed his new role at the beginning of the year, according to a spokesman. EyeSouth was formed by Shore Capital Partners, a lower middle-market health care private equity firm. Adams will work closely with the senior leadership team and physician partners to provide strategic guidance and operating expertise to the company’s practice network. Most recently, Adams was chief executive officer of Payspan, a provider of health care reimbursement and payment automation utilized by more than 700 health plans and 1 million-plus health care providers. Andrea Busato Safilo Appoints Andrea Busato as Commercial Head of Latin America PADUA, Italy—Safilo has appointed Andrea Busato as commercial head of Latin America. Busato joined Safilo in 2012 as CFO for EMEA, bringing with him 15 years of fashion industry experience namely from Diesel, Salvatore Ferragamo and consulting with Deloitte. In 2014 he was appointed global sales operations director and then promoted in 2016 to Safilo’s global leadership team as head of global sales operations, reporting to the CEO. Luisa Delgado, CEO of Safilo Group said, “Andrea’s appointment represents a further step in the development of our Latin America business. Specifically, we wish to invest in leading edge capability to deepen our relationships with our local retail customers. Andrea’s mission is to further accelerate the business growth as we continue to expand our footprint in the region. Busato will be based in Safilo’s Miami office, the Latin America HQ, effective Feb. 1, 2018.