Lenskart invests $4 mn in John Jacobs brand to expand offline presence

Online eyewear firm Lenskart on Sunday said it expects its affordable-premium eyewear brand John Jacobs to clock revenues of Rs 5 billion by FY2020-21 as it expands the offline retail presence of the brand.

Lenskart is investing  $4 million into the brand to set up more stores across cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai and in Delhi-NCR.

"India needs a premium brand for eyewear but one that is not extremely expensive. John Jacobs is a trendy designer eyewear brand, that is fast creating a name for representing top international styles at affordable prices," Lenskart founder and CEO Peyush Bansal told PTI.

John Jacobs currently has five stores, which will be increased to 20 this year, he added. "In the next 2-3 years, we are looking at 50-odd stores across tier I cities."

The brand is also being sold online on Lenskart's platform as well as 400 Lenskart retail points.

Bansal said the company is also looking at partnering with large format retail stores to sell the John Jacobs range.

"The eyewear market in India is a Rs 200 billion opportunity. Of this, sunglasses and contact lenses is about 40-50 billion," Bansal pointed out.

He said John Jacobs is already clocking revenues of about Rs 1 billion and should cross Rs 5 billion by FY2020-21.

Bansal said Lenskart has already invested about $1 million and the additional USD 4 million will be directed towards the expansion of retail outlets and product range.

John Jacobs has teamed up with Italian design house

Mazzucchelli for material and design partnership. Its range is priced at Rs 3,500 onwards.