Titan Eye Plus, the country's largest eyewear retail chain, has deferred by a year its target year to achieve breakeven; it now hopes to achieve this in fiscal 2013-14. “This is because we have upped the pace of expansion and increased the target store count by 60 stores for fiscal 2013-14,” said Mr Ravi Kant, COO, Eyewear Business, Titan Industries Ltd.
The current store count is 177 and the company plans to add another 65-70 stores by the end of this fiscal and take the total count to 400 by 2013-14. Another reason for revising the EBITA breakeven target year is the increased spend on brand-building and on training staff, he added.
Titan Eye Plus was launched in 2008 as a prescription-based eyewear retailing chain, targeting the mid-to-upper segments of the market.
The company is now run as a multi-brand outlet chain, offering more than 30 imported and in-house eyewear brands.
The challenge in this market in India is that eyewear is seen as a functional buy rather than as a fashion buy. The concept of multiple ownership (owning more than one pair of glasses) does not exist here,” says Mr Ravi Kant.
The company is now piloting a smaller format called Spexx, attached to eye hospitals.
“We have four mini stores across the country that sell prescription glasses and lenses in hospitals and we are still testing them out,” says Mr Ravi Kant.
Titan Eye Plus retails eyewear brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, Cabana, Switchers, Flexx, Vybes and Versace, apart from in-house brands.
The lenses are from Titan, Essilor, Kodak and Nikon and contact lenses from Baush & Lomb and Johnson & Johnson.