A leading group

ALAIN AFFLELOU The founder

In 1971, Alain Afflelou left Paris, where he completed his studies. At 23, he obtained a double degree as an optician and hearing aid consultant. He enjoyed relationship for which he had a spontaneous talent. He was looking to set up his own business and opened his first optical store in 1972 in the Bordeaux area.

In 1978, Alain Afflelou launched his first revolutionary advertising campaign with half-price frames on all brands and personally involved in expanding the AFFLELOU optical store franchise.

A charismatic visionary, ongoing innovation is one of the key pillars of his success, a success that has seen him build a brand that throughout the years continues to stand out in a strong competitive environment. All these innovations are based on both strong worldwide communication and product innovation. In 1985, there were 100 Afflelou points of sales in France, 360 in 1999 and 1 449 stores in July 2021.

Alain Afflelou has always loved sports, especially football.

Competitiveness, team spirit, dynamism: ALAIN AFFLELOU shares his values with the world of high performance sports. Therefore it was no surprise when the brand became involved in sports sponsorship in the mid-80s.

In 2019, he ranked among the top 5 most popular entrepreneurs in France. Backed by 40 years of hands on experience, the AFFLELOU group keeps on opening new optical and hearing aid stores and exploring new opportunities to meet the expectations of an ever growing number of customers.

ANTHONY AFFLELOU CEO

The optics and hearing aid markets are very competitive and fragmented. In order to make a difference with the competition, Afflelou has always been focused on discounted prices, a broad range of products, and permanent innovation. After the revolution created by the invention of Tchin Tchin by AFFLELOU in 1999, we never stopped innovating. This claim is 100% confirmed by the incredible success of our latest creation, MAGIC. Our sales performance in the last few years also attests that we are on the right track. Our business model is so robust that we were able to deploy it in a number of sales territories ; With nearly 500 locations abroad, the footprint of our brand has reached a new magnitude.

Both opticians and audioprosthetists play a key role in improving the life of those who wear eyeglasses or hearing aids. We are proud of the quality of those who are our franchiseesas it is necessary to provide qualitative and innovative solutions for a price that remains affordable. This is the essence of the policy of the brands of the AFFLELOU Group for both eyewear and hearing aids.

Our franchising business model is based on a split of the business tasks between the franchisor and the franchisee. With that operating model, franchisees have access to resources that would be out of reach otherwise. The Brand contributes its know-how, trustworthy image, marketing skills, and powerful communication tools.