Fastrack takes 'irreverence' to its retail stores

Titan Industries, India’s largest organised retailer of watches and jewellery, is taking the theme of irreverence forward with its ‘Fastrack’ range of lifestyle accessories. The brand, sharply focussed on the youth, has been growing at an aggressive pace and accounts for 10 per cent of Titan’s revenues of close to Rs 9,000 crore.

As part of its plans to entrench the whacky brand recall — Fastrack — has unveiled its flagship store which unfolds through a series of installations and events. A physical grid of white pipes forms the basis for a grid from which various display systems are suspended. This meshwork of grids hides away services and lighting, and supports various display systems.

The store also does not rely on conventional materials apart from a basic vitrified tiled floor, to address issues of uniformity during rollouts across cities in India. Walls are plastered with a mix of cement and form a neutral backdrop to the installations. Even though there is order in the apparent chaos, there is an underlying sense of exploring a bazaar. This format will be adapted to a multitude of retail formats, including standalone stores and kiosks. At cursory glance this seems a daunting task, but the entire design is modular and flexible.  

On the launch, Ronnie Talati, Business Head & Vice President, Fastrack said, “Fastrack is an irreverent brand with in your face, tongue-in-cheek communication; always known to generate a stir, the brand has created a legion of dedicated followers and fans. Fastrack has now managed to translate the irreverence of the brand into a physical space with the launch of this new retail identity.”

Each category has a space of its own and is designed with installations unique to that category. The watches are displayed inside bird cages, the belts are casually worn around a mannequin and the theme is carried forward to poles covered in leather and studs. The bags are suspended in rope using carabiners. Wallets are meant to be pickpocketed from the back of denim jeans and lie hanging out halfway from the pockets, eye wear is displayed on bright yellow bananas.

There are old beaten up trunks, floating tables, mirrors, reconditioned refrigerators, urinals and water closets used as display devices, and various objects strewn through the space. Even the transaction desk is centered in the middle of the store becoming an intrinsic part of the experience.  Even the signage does not take itself too seriously, and is a riot of blinking color changing lights, set to a DMX controller, representative of lighting from the high streets of Broadway, NY. The small open space in front of the store houses a bike rack and a folding bench.

Fastrack presently has 137 stores across the country across 68 cities in all metros, mini metros and several smaller towns like Manipal and Nashik.