Safilo opticals eyeing Punjab

After establishing itself in the metros, the Safilo Group, the world leader in fashion eyewear, is targeting Tier-II and Tier-III cities, especially of Punjab.

Safilo designs, produces and distributes optical frames, and fashion and sport sunglasses, and is headquartered in Italy. It has a wide range of premium eyewear brands of international standing like Bottega Veneta, Boucheron, Christian Dior, Diesel, Emporio Armani, Hugo Boss, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Max Mara, and Pierre Cardin.

The group hopes this will help in penetrating smaller cities and making the international brands accessible to the middle class. As part of marketing strategy, the group will appoint sales teams to look after the Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh markets.

Speaking to Business Standard, Regional Manager (Sales & Marketing) Amarbir Singh, who is looking after India and Saarc nations, said: "India is a huge market for opticals. Although at present our major share of business comes from the US, Europe and West Asia, in the coming years India would emerge as a big market for us."

Commenting upon Punjab, Singh said: "It is a big market; very soon you will see our brands available with leading opticians even in smaller cities like Bathinda and Pathankot."

When asked whether the company had any plans to open exclusive outlets, he said, "Not yet, but we are available at leading optical shops and showrooms. Also, we have a firm foothold in the Indian market, which is evident from the 450-strong dealer network, and our products are available in premium lifestyle and big format retail stores. We are planning to double our dealer network by 2010."

He said, "The annual growth rate of the Indian optical market is 20 per cent and our firm is growing at 32 per cent. As far as the northern region is concerned, after Delhi comes Punjab."

The company has a 45 per cent market share in the organised sector. In the last financial year the company sold about 100,000 pieces. "We hope by 2010 we can sell 600,000 pieces annually" he added.

"For India operations 6 per cent of our expenditure will be on promotional activities and media advertisements," he said.