Swiss premium watch maker Longines today said it may consider opening company-owned single brand retail outlets in India following relaxation in FDI norms here.
“We may consider a few corporate (company-owned) stores. If we could do this, then we will. A few mono brand outlets are welcome,” Charles Villoz, Vice President and Head (International Sales), Longines said here.
He, however, said, opening of single-brand outlets are “not our priority”.
The company is currently present in India through 70 stores, of which 65 are multi-brand retail outlets and the rest are franchise-owned.
“We do not want to expand rapidly in our stores. We want to focus on organic growth, which is more sales from the existing network,” Villoz said.
He said the company is currently growing at over 30 per cent in India with sales of around 10,000 units annually.
“In the next two years, we are looking at a growth of 15 per cent every year... We do not want to overflow the market. So we are cautious in our approach,” Villoz said.
Sold in over 130 countries, the Longines watches are available for Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh in India. The company today introduced a new collection, Saint—Imier in India celebrating 180th anniversary of the brand.
“India is a top priority market for us in our mid-term plan for the next three years. It is currently in the top 20 markets for us,” Villoz said.
The company’s top six markets are China, Germany, the US, Switzerland, the UK and Italy.
“Two of our markets in Scandinavia and Latin America were flat in the last year,” Villoz said, but declined share the name of the two countries.
Last month, the government had tweaked the sourcing norms for FDI exceeding 50 per cent in single brand retail, requiring foreign firms, which want a relaxation of the 30 per cent procurement norms, to set up manufacturing facilities in the country.