Published
Nov 21, 2017
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Titan looks to luxury eyewear market with new stores, eyes 15% growth

Published
Nov 21, 2017

​Tata group firm Titan plans to turnaround the fortunes of its eyewear division through product and store expansion, eyeing 15 percent growth in the coming years, said a top company official.
 

Titan


The eyewear division of the firm is looking to increase its market share to 15 percent from the 10 percent it currently holds in the Indian eyewear market.
 
Titan posted strong results in the second quarter ended September 30, with 67 percent jump in profits to Rs 278 crore (approx $43 million) while revenue its rose 28 percent to Rs 3,518 crore (approx 543.8 million).

However, its eyewear segment has been witnessing a slowdown and contributed a meagre Rs 99 crore to the company’s revenue recording a 3.5 percent growth in the quarter.
 
The company had said that the performance of eyewear business was adversely impacted due to a slowdown of the sunglasses category.
 
As part of its strategy to reposition the eyewear division the company plans to foray into the luxury eyewear segment by opening exclusive stores that will offer the consumers international and private labels.
 
“Titan is planning to experiment with a new luxury eyewear store format in specific catchments. These stores will stock a greater mix of its third-party international brands and higher-end products from its own firm. Titan will open first of these in Kolkata’s Park Street and will look at similar catchments in cities like Delhi and Mumbai,” Ronnie Talati, chief executive officer of the eyewear division, told the newspaper Mint.
 
Apart from setting up luxury stores in metros, the company will expand its presence across the country by adding 20 to 30 stores especially in tier 2, tier 3 cities for growth.
 
“Of the 40 to 60 new stores we open, roughly half will be in middle India. I think middle India is ready for brands, especially mid-segment brands. It is certainly a market that cannot be ignored and will be a growth area in the coming years,” Talati added.
 
The company has closed down all its unprofitable stores in various locations, and is in the process of setting up new ones in different cities to narrow losses. It has added 26 eyewear stores in the last six months. Currently, there are around 500 Titan EyePlus stores across the country.

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