Ethos gears up for expansion

Ethos, an emerging retail chain for premium watches headquartered in Chandigarh, is set to expand its network in the country.

The company has decided to have more than 24 stores in the next two years. Some of the locations have been finalised and a few are in the pipeline.

"We have got excellent returns on our investments in Bangalore and Mumbai and so we plan to consolidate our presence in these towns," said Yasho Saboo, chief executive officer of Ethos Swiss Watch Studios.

He said the eighth brand store of Ethos would be opened in Pune this month. Saboo plans to launch four stores in Delhi; two each in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata; and one in Bangalore.

Ethos is yet to set its foot in Delhi. "We want to open studios in malls in Delhi but the delay in the completion of malls has deferred our plans," said Saboo.

According to Saboo, the shopping-malls in cosmopolitan towns attract serious customers and the success of their outlets in Bangalore and Mumbai proves this.

So the company decided to open more outlets at new locations. Contrary to this, mall culture was still in its infancy in towns like Chandigarh. So it is more viable to have design studios in conventional showrooms in Punjab.

Ethos has a market share of 3-4 per cent and is growing at 40 per cent per annum. Saboo surmised the Indian market for discernible watches would be about Rs 2,000 crore in seven years and Ethos aimed to capture about 12 per cent of that market.

"The most popular Swiss brands in the Indian market are the Omega, Rado, Tag and Loungins. But the niche brands are Carl F Bucherer (it means for people who don not go with the times) and Movarado (focused on art)", said Saboo.

He added that Brequet, a Rs 5 lac to Rs 28 lac watch was sold for a model worth Rs 15 lac from his studio. Tissot, in the price range of Rs 8000-Rs 10,000 was popular among students.

Saboo said, "though the parent company Kamla Dials is into the business of making watch components for many Indian and International brands, but the company had no plans to manufacture its own watches."

He apprised that the consultants at Ethos give feedback to the foreign brands to designs customised watches for India market. Indian wrists are sleek as compared to western people so guide their business partners to manufacture watches compatible to the Indian autonomy.

"Rado designed a wedding gift for couple on the recommendation of Ethos and that is big hit in the wedding season", he said.

70% of our sales accrue from the men segment as women prefer to buy jewellery more often than watches, told Saboo".