Press Trust of India

Watch manufacturer Timex today said it will introduce more international brands from its global portfolio in the country and strengthen its retail presence by opening 20 more stores across the country by the end of this fiscal.

The company said it will launch 'Marc Ecko' brand of watches in the country by January next year, besides introducing a collection for the festive season very soon.

Timex has 12 international brands under it, of which six are already in India. We will gradually introduce the rest six as well here. As of now, we have finalised plans to introduce the Marc Ecko by January next year," Timex Group India Managing Director Gopalratnam Kannan told reporters here.

The company recently introduced its high-end international brand 'Salvatore Ferragamo' in the country this year. He, however, declined to give a time frame as to when the rest of the brands will be launched.

Kannan said the company had earlier planned to introduce a total of 400 models this year, of which 300 have already been launched.

"We will introduce the rest 100 models in the remaining part of the year. We are also coming up with a new range of collection for the festive season," Kannan said while introducing the new 'Ironman' series watches.

Besides, Timex is also opening 20 more exclusive stores across the country, taking its total number of outlets to 82 by the end of this fiscal.

"We are looking to open 20 stores across the country, mainly in Tier II and III cities," he said.

Timex said the company will be investing around Rs 2 crore for opening the stores.

"Opening one store costs around Rs 10 lakh. We will be spending around Rs 2 crore for opening these stores," Kannan said.

Besides, the company is also focusing on travel retail, like opening outlets at the airport. "We are looking at opening stores or making our products available at multi-brand stores at the airports," he said.

Timex, which has roped in athlete Anuradha Vaidyanathan as the brand ambassador for the new Ironman series, said it also plans to bring in more atheletes to endorse the products.

Kannan said the company had a turnover of Rs 132 crore last fiscal and expects a growth of around 7-8 per cent this financial year.

When asked about his expectations from the upcoming festive season, he said the company is expecting "better" growth as compared to that of last year.

"We usually have 55 per cent of our business coming from the second-half of the year. However, last year it dipped by about 5 per cent due to the slowdown. This festive season we expect to do better," he said.