Chennai: Specsmakers, India’s leading optical retail network spanning TN, KA, Telangana & AP inaugurated its newest store at Dindugal in Tamil Nadu on Fri. 27 Aug. ‘21. The store was inaugurated by Shri Kamala Kannan, Chairman & Managing Director, Naga Foods, Dindugal.
Speaking on the occasion, S. Shriram, VP – Sales & Marketing elaborated, “We are delighted to commence our store expansion today after a gap of over 18 months. 30% of our stores are currently located in Tier 2/3 towns and we expect this to touch 50% of our total store count by Mar. ‘22. The resilience (of businesses) during the pandemic and lockdown in these smaller cities is exemplary and with reverse migration to “native towns” due to WFH and SFH – School from Home, we have seen our stores outside metro cities grow much faster than their counterparts. Also, the sequential (month on- month) growth as well as when compared to 2019 sales, these towns are faring well, which we believe will continue for a long time to come”.
Specsmakers operates 100+ stores within Chennai city limits and another 50+ in Bangalore. A dozen stores operate in Hyderabad and RoAP / Telangana. During the ongoing FY 2021-22, the company is planning to focus and penetrate deeper within the two states they’re already rooted in. “We want to capture more market share in our existing markets this year than getting adventurous and expanding across states in a hurry. However, we are creating the road map for a massive expansion across South India in FY 22-23, and teams are being recruited and trained for the same”, he said.
The company which owns and manages all the stores has over 10% of its stores invested by Franchisees through the FOCO model – Franchise Owned, Company Operated. “We are now focusing on adding more Franchisee stores as it is perhaps the fastest-growing retail segment in India. Due to prolonged usage of electronic devices, adults as well as kids have a need to check their eye power and accordingly wear spectacles for reading, working as well as doing other chores”, Shriram added. The country has over 42,000 optical stores, 95% of which are operated by Mom & Pop businesses.
