Titan Industries launches Titan Eye+
March 31, 2007

Titan Industries has announced the pilot launch of Titan Eye+, the company's foray into prescription eyewear business. The foray represents Titan's third major line of consumer business, after watches and jewellery. Noel Tata will launch the first Titan Eye+ store in Bangalore on April 4, 2007 at Safina Plaza, Bangalore.

Titan Eye+ will be piloted in Bangalore and Nagpur in the initial phase and will be subsequently rolled out nationally in the next fiscal year. During the pilot phase, the company plans to open five Titan Eye+ stores in Bangalore and one in Nagpur.

The current Indian prescription eyewear market is sizeable with nearly 30 per cent of the population requiring vision correction. However, this immense market is characterised by a few indigenous optical brands operating in the mid to premium segment and several other unorganised players who offer low-quality products at throwaway prices. As such, the category offers a huge potential for a brand that offers trust, style and consistent quality to consumers.

Speaking on the latest venture, Bhaskar Bhat, managing director, Titan Industries, said, "Titan Eye+ stores will offer the widest and most stylish optical range currently available in the country. They will be strongly underpinned with trust and loyalty building measures aimed at establishing Titan Eye+ as the market leader."

The Titan Eye+ chain of optical stores will re-define the industry and straddle the marketplace with exacting quality standards, unparalleled in India's prescription eyewear industry. Benchmarked against the best in the world, Titan Eye+ will herald standardisation and new practices in the highly fragmented and undifferentiated Indian optical retail segment.

Currently, the reluctance of consumers in entering a prescription retail outlet arises from their concern about look downgrade and the accuracy of eye tests offered at these outlets. Titan Eye+ will offer several confidence-building services like state-of-the-art refraction labs for zero-error prescription, scratch resistant lenses coupled with warranty, and style consultancy in order to develop the market and eradicate these concerns.

Titan Eye+ plans to be the dominant player in the mid-priced segment offering optical solutions for varying consumer needs. The Titan Eye+ chain will leverage the company's retail and design expertise to offer a world-class optometry featuring a range of stylish products with over 1,000 distinctive frames of the finest quality. The stores will carry frames bearing the Titan brand as well as the Eye+ and Dash brands (for children). Apart from this, the Titan Eye+ stores will also sell frames and sunglasses from a host of fashion brands. The company has tied up with Essilor, the world's largest lens manufacturer, for supply of optical lenses. Besides Essilor lenses, the stores will also sell Titan-branded lenses.