Titan, Rel Retail to ramp up eyewear biz

Titan Eye+, the eyewear division of Titan Industries Ltd, is looking at revenues of Rs 500 crore from its retail stores in another 4 years, S Ravi Kant, chief operating officer (eyewear division), Titan Industries, told. In the next 3 years, the company will open additional 300 stores through its franchise network in both malls and high streets. In the last two years, Titan has set up 68 Titan Eye+ stores across 35 towns in the country. "Around 22 stores are company-run and due to the softening of rental prices, we have successfully renegotiated rental lease agreements with a few properties. The landlords are open to renegotiating due to the slowdown," Kant said. Rival Reliance Retail's eyewear division Vision Express, too, is looking to expand operations with 500 retail stores across the country in 7 years. Currently, the company has 9 stores in Bangalore, Faridabad, Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mysore. Last year, Reliance Retail and European optical retailer Pearle Europe inked a 50:50 joint venture for Vision Express chain of stores. Danny Van Der Voorden, chief executive officer, Reliance Vision Express, said, "Competition in the branded eyewear segment is growing but there is enough space for all players to grow. It is a progressive move, for it will change the way prescription eyewear is treated." Early this year, Gitanjali Lifestyles Ltd forged a 50:50 joint venture with Kuwait-based retailer Hassan's Optician to open 200 stores in 2 years at an investment of $2 million. While Titan and Reliance are focused on the prescription eyewear market, which is a Rs 1,800 crore industry and is largely dominated by unorganised players, Gitanjali's play is mainly in the luxury segment. Vision Express has a technical tie-up with LV Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad and Titan Eye+ with Sankara Nethralaya. The branded eyewear segment is a Rs 1,500 crore industry, which is growing at 15-20% annually.