It's settled - Synsam Group moving eyewear production back home from Asia. The final choice was Östersund.

In October, Synsam Group announced that its eyewear production would move from Asia to Sweden. This is one part of the company’s long-term sustainability agenda. Synsam’s factory and innovation centre will be established in Östersund, creating approximately 200 new jobs.

During the autumn, a dialogue was initiated with Ockelbo municipality about establishing a presence in the area. However, the municipality’s proposal was not approved by the Administrative Court, so Synsam once again raised the issue and engaged in a deeper dialogue with Östersund. The agreement is based on a private business arrangement whereby “Hangar 90,” which belonged to the Jämtland wing of the Swedish Air Force, will be transformed into an ultra-modern innovation centre and eyewear production facility.

“Östersund is a perfect platform for Synsam Group to build our existing and international business. It has a robust local economy in an expansive region with well-developed infrastructure and surrounded by nature. We can also reuse an existing premises which is an advantage in terms of sustainability,” says Håkan Lundstedt, President and CEO of Synsam Group.

200 full-time employees are expected to be required, making it one of Östersund’s largest private employers. Synsam’s factory and innovation centre, which will also include an eye health training facility and be a destination for both customers and trade, is expected to be ready for production to start in early 2022.

“We’re in the middle of turbulent times. The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of the global supply chains. Even though the decision to move production back home was made for sustainability reasons before the pandemic, this has further convinced us that our analysis was correct,” concludes Håkan Lundstedt.

Susanna Löfgren, acting County Governor of Jämtland, also participated in today’s press conference. She took the opportunity to welcome Synsam Group to the county.

“This is an important and historic establishment for Jämtland, which will help generate interest in us as an attractive region for the business sector. Synsam Group’s focus on sustainability – both in building the factory and throughout the eyewear production process – is especially gratifying, as is their bold decision to move production back home to Sweden, and to Jämtland. It shows that it really is possible to transition to sustainability.”

Synsam Group’s new plant and innovation centre

• Name: Synsam Group Innovationscenter AB
• Production capacity: Over one million pairs of spectacles per year.
• The facility: Synsam’s approximately 8,100 square metre plant and innovation centre will be established in Östersund, on the previous site of Hangar 90 for the Jämtland wing of the Swedish Air Force at Frösö Park. Both the exterior and interior will be reused to the greatest extent possible.
• Number of employees: 200 full-time employees are expected to be required. Additionally, Synsam’s factory and innovation centre will employ a large number of other individuals in its production and sales chain.
• Innovation, training and meetings: The facility will be both an innovation and training facility as well as a destination, not only for Synsam Group but also for customers from near and far as well as for trade and industry, and a venue for eye health training.
• Investments: The total investment for Synsam Group will amount to approximately SEK 250 million over a period of three years.
• Property owner: Frösö Park Fastighets AB.

Synsam Group is one of Europe’s leading players in the optical retail sector and offers unique solutions within both eye health and eye fashion, with a wide range based on customers’ different lifestyles and eye health requirements. The Group operates in the Nordic region and has approximately 3,500 employees and total sales of around SEK 4 billion. In total, the Group has around 500 stores operating under the brands Synsam and, in Denmark, Profil Optik. Since 2015, Synsam Group has carried out a transformation of its entire offering and, with a high degree of digitization and other innovative concepts, achieved growth and profitability that are among the highest in Europe.