Lawrence & Mayo plans 40 outlets

Brand extension is the buzz word in the retail sector today. Lawrence & Mayo, an established brand since over 135 years has now entered into watches and writing instruments. Currently playing in the safe zone the first collection is of classic timepieces and writing instruments. With new collections coming out every three months, innovations tops their priority to cater to the need of youth, women and corporate. Vivek Mendonsa, Marketing Director, L&M spoke to the Retailer Magazine in details of the near future plans of the latest brand extension.

Saniya Seth (SS): Tell us about L&M’s extension into watches and writing instruments.

Vivek Mendonsa (VM): We have gone for a very classic range of pens and timepieces. It’s nothing out of the blue or something very different. We have always been in the engineering, scientific instruments division and optical chain of 91 stores, so pens and watches seemed like a logical extension of the brand. People love the brand and want to experience more of the products. Ours is a legendary brand of 135 years.

SS: How has the Indian consumer patters changed over time?

VK: The Indian consumer today wants to spend more and is demanding more brands to make a style statement. We are moving towards a lifestyle brand. Today with the disposable income, though we are seeing a slight slowdown, gifting is also very big business−people gift club memberships, spa memberships and not the old ‘mithai’.

SS: Tell us about your marketing strategies.

VK: Our marketing strategy for this particular segment of pens and timepieces is going to be more online through our own retail stores of 91 branches and we have got our own magazine called Eye to Eye which goes out to 25000 consumers. It is a more shop in shop concept and we will be giving publicity in certain national magazines and some regional and local magazines too.

Fact file:

Growth: 12 % to 15% every year

Revenue in eyewear: Rs. 115 Crores

Outlets: 91 branches in 32 cities

Number of employees: 1200

SS: What is the biggest challenge you face today?

VK: I don’t think we face any challenge at all. The entire watch market is more than Rs 4500 crores and there is enough space for various players. There are a lot of established players, we respect those players and we will be learning from them and trying to do something different. Especially in the pen category, there is no pen which has been positioned as a pen for women. We are the first brand which has come up with floral bright colors. There are so many Indian festivals where a lady can be gifted jewellery, perfume, scarves−we are giving them more opportunities.

SS: How will the FDI reforms affect your business?

VK: FDI reforms will not affect our business. We welcome the foreign brands into the country and we have always supported FDI. The government will take the retail sector more seriously after opening up of FDI. In the last ten 15 years there has been a sea change in the attitude of the government. Earlier we were not allowed to be kept open on Sundays, which has changed. Women were allowed to work in retail only till six thirty, that rule has changed; they are now allowed to work till eleven. A lot of changes have been made in the sectors that were earlier neglected and the credit goes to FDI.

SS: Have you entered the e-commerce arena?

VK: We already have an e-commerce portal. It is selling our gift vouchers, sunglasses, timepieces as well as our writing instruments. Plus we have tie-ups with Tajonline and several other portals. Tajonline has been doing extremely well for us. We are also a part of the record and recognition program of big companies. It will contribute about three to four percent to the revenue and will slowly move up to five to seven per cent.

SS: Do you have a standard format for all your stores?

VK: Yes, we have a red, white and black combination in all our stores present in 32 cities. All our stores are standalone stores present in high street locations. We have presence in a few malls and airport kiosks, but basically we are known as a high street brand.

SS: Tell us about your expansion plans.

VK: We will be expanding at the rate of two to three outlets per month. Every year there will be 36 to 40 new retail outlets coming up.

SS: Have you entered into franchising?

VK: So far we have not. The reason being there is acute shortage of manpower in our industry, so if we offer a franchise to any franchisee, we are unable to give them a tailor made solution. So we are actually going into backward integration and getting into education, creating more optometrist and audiometrist. India requires about 10000 optometrist per year. Currently only 3500 are coming out, so we are backward integrating into optometry education and once we create a sizable pool of optometrist then franchising in the next three to five years will be an option.