New Delhi: The World of Titan is changing. The largest selling watch brand in the country is getting a makeover from being a matured, been there for sometime to a young, vibrant and contemporary brand. The image makeover is coming through Titan Industries’ retail network which is currently getting a facelift.

Towards that, Titan Industries Ltd, is revamping its select exclusive stores into large format flagship stores of over 2,000sq ft each in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore with a contemporary retail identity. The first such flagship store World of Titan showroom in New Delhi, has been redone at an estimated cost of Rs 1 crore.

Titan’s move to revamp its retail formats follows feedback to the company that its retail image was perceived as ‘matured’ and ‘have been around for sometime’. "Though we have been redefining retailing standards in the Indian watch industry, we needed to reinvent the look," Titan Industries group manager-retail Mr Ajoy H. Chawla said.

So from being a mere ‘functional’ store, Titan retail stores are now graduating to the ‘hot, hip and happening’ look with a distinct touch to the design aspect with apt use of steel, wood, colours, graphics and style.

Simultaneously, the new retail identity is being carried over to the company’s 60 more World of Titan showrooms across top 12 towns in the first phase. And by the end of next financial, all 150 stores will be covered, Mr Chawla said.

Interestingly, the company is also merchandising a range of accessories such as card holders, wallets, bags, scarves, cell phone holders etc. However, these are being outsourced. The flagship stores will also display for the first time Titan’s international collection of watches which are priced between Rs 3000 and Rs 8000.

According to Mr Chawla, the constantly changing retailing landscape and the evolved customer has led Titan to go for the new look and not the depressing watch market. "The new retail identity aims to create a more contemporary Titan brand experience for consumers at the point of sale," he added. The domestic watch market has been stagnant in the last two years. Titan however maintains that it has been growing and maintaining its leadership position.

Titan’s products are sold in over 1800 cities in India through 7000 outlets. Of these, 150 are exclusive World of Titan stores and another 136 are TimeZone outlets, a chain of multi-brand outlets with a significant Titan presence.

According to Mr Chawla, 150 World of Titan showrooms service about 1.2 million customers annually, and report a sales turnover of Rs 175 crore per annum. With the new retail thrust, Titan hopes to see an exponential growth in its sales. The New Delhi flagship store, for instance, is targeted to achieve a sales turnover of Rs 2 crore in the first year. According to Mr Chawla, the new retail look has already been piloted in two stores in Mumbai and Bangalore with encouraging results.