Titan Industries set to explore new verticals

Titan Industries, makers of successful fashion accessories brand Fastrack, today said it was planning to enter into silver watches by the next year even as it is transitioning itself into a lifestyle retail company, a senior official said.     

"Titan is working to perfect a technology that will ensure that silver does not get tarnished, without which entering this sector could be disastrous," said Titan Industries Managing Director Bhaskar Bhat on the sidelines of inaugurating an exclusive Fastrack store here.   

This year we are planning to enter into two new categories that are silver watches and helmet, he said.    

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"Titan Industries is exploring new opportunities to become a lifestyle company and not just a successful watch maker," Bhat said.     

The Rs 6000-crore plus Titan Industries has presence in watch, jewelery and eye-wear sectors as well as precision engineering for aerospace and automobile. The thrust of its new corporate strategy is to get into new domains every second year and try and gain leadership in that market, he said.            

"Titan has already moved into eye-wear products and is experimenting with non-leather bags, belts and other accessories and eying segments like pens, steel and even silver jewelery," Bhat said.            

Replying to a query on stepping into perfume segment, he said, "no decision is taken on this front though the company will enter into helmets". 

"We want to be a lifestyle retail chain controlling the entire life cycle of our brands from watches and ready-to-wear to leather accessories and footwear. We will get into different lifestyle categories and be the segment leader," the managing director said.       

"Another largely unorganised market that has caught Titan's fancy is non-leather bags, wallets and belts which it hawks under the Fastrack brand," he said.            

According to Bhat, Titan has planned to open 100 new exclusive Fastrack stores across the country during the current fiscal year and take the annual turnover to Rs 650 crore from Rs 500 crore.      

"We (will) reach target of achieving annual turnover of Rs 1500 crore from Fastrack stores in the next three years," he added.         

The company is planning to open two more stores in Ahmedabad and one each at Surat and Rajkot this year.