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Titan Eyewear is stepping up its manufacturing and retail footprint..
The company recently invested ₹30 crore in its manufacturing plant in Bengaluru to produce frames and will invest close to ₹25 crore to launch satellite manufacturing labs to speed up delivery.
Ronnie Talati, Chief Executive Officer, Titan Eyewear, told BusinessLine that the new facility will be operational from January 2018 and frames will hit the shelves by March. The manufacturing unit has the capacity to produce 10 lakh frames annually. “But right now we are planning to produce 50,000 units and step up gradually based on demand,” he added.
According to Talati, designing and producing their own frames will ensure quality and also will be a key differentiator. A dedicated team has been formed to design frames that will keep up with international eye wear trends. “Since we are mid-segment players, frames will be priced between ₹500 and ₹3,500,” he added.
This will also help the company reduce the imports. Currently most frames are imported from Asian countries, especially China. “As we step up our production our frame import will come down.” Talati said.
The company already produces its own lenses in the Bengaluru facility and has three satellite labs at Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi. Talati said there are plans to launch three or four more labs. “We are looking at Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Bihar in the North for the labs,” he added.
There are 483 Titan Eyeplus showrooms across 200 cities in the country. The company registered revenue of ₹406 crore for last fiscal when it opened 100 stores.
“We want to expand rapidly and will launch 50-100 stores per year,” Talati added. Though most of them will be franchisee stores, Talati said 5-10 outlets will be company-owned with an investment of ₹35-50 lakh each.
The company is exploring opening more high-end stores that will house more luxury and international brands. Talati said: “We currently operate in regular format in metros and low cost format in smaller towns.” First high-end store will come up in Kolkata soon. There are plans to launch 10 such stores across Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi in the coming year.
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