Smart safety eyewear wins

Lucyd Armor, a line of smart safety glasses from Innovative Eyewear, won a 2026 Retailer’s Choice Award at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas. (visionmonday.com) Innovative Eyewear announced the award on April 10, 2026, and said the honor was presented during the Las Vegas show the prior week. The company trades on Nasdaq under the symbols LUCY and LUCYW. (prnewswire.com) The award comes from the North American Hardware and Paint Association, which says the Retailers’ Choice program is in its 60th year in 2026. The association says the awards began at the National Hardware Show in 1966 and that only about 30 products are selected each year. (yournhpa.org) Lucyd Armor is built like protective shop glasses but adds electronics for calls and audio. The product page says the glasses are American National Standards Institute Z87.1 certified and include open-ear speakers, a microphone and ultraviolet 400 protection. (lucyd.co) Innovative Eyewear has been pushing Lucyd Armor as a worksite product rather than a consumer fashion device. In November 2025, the company said the line had expanded with four new models and additional certifications including American National Standards Institute Z87.1+, Canadian Standards Association Z94.3 and European Norm 16639:2018. (prnewswire.com) The company’s own filings and earnings releases show why that matters to it. Innovative Eyewear said Lucyd Armor launched in late 2024, and the line helped lift 2024 revenue to $1.64 million, up 42% from 2023. (prnewswire.com) By the third quarter of 2025, the company said Lucyd Armor represented about half of its total smart-glass units sold for both the quarter and the year to date. Vision Monday reported the line was launched in October 2024. (visionmonday.com) The hardware channel is a logical target for that push. Grand View Research estimated the United States safety eyewear market at $903.5 million in 2022 and projected it would reach about $1.21 billion by 2030. (grandviewresearch.com) This year’s National Hardware Show, now branded “NHS Concept to Commerce,” ran March 31 to April 2 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, with an international exhibitor summit on March 30. That put Lucyd Armor in front of the retailers and distributors who decide what reaches store shelves. (thehardwareconnection.com) For Innovative Eyewear, the award adds retail validation to the product line that has become its fastest-growing collection. For the hardware industry, it puts a pair of connected safety glasses alongside the hand tools, jobsite gear and protective equipment competing for shelf space. (finance.yahoo.com)