Learning to write right

EDUCATION: Luxor pens offbeat diversification script.

In a very interesting case of forward integration, Luxor Writing Instruments has bought into a standalone pre-school "" Playhouse School "" and plans to replicate such pre-schools across Delhi.

Leading the company's charge on the education sector is Luxor's executive director, Pooja Jain, herself a product of the Playhouse School.

"I would like to see Playhouse as the most popular chain of pre-schools in Delhi. We have already invested in renovating the school premises and will soon induct more teachers and staff to help in our expansion plans," she says.

The expansion is not only geographic. The Rs 200 crore group, home to brands like Parker, Papermate and Waterman, intends to gradually offer education up to the primary level.

Playhouse, established in 1955 by Bimla Nanda Bissell, is one of the oldest pre-schools in New Delhi. Luxor has invested Rs 50 lakh for a 60 per cent stake in Playhouse, which has 100 students on its rolls today. With a marketing and media blitz (print) on the cards, Jain is sure that the "corporate approach" would get Playhouse the desired momentum.

The extension of the brand into the profitable education sector should augur well for Luxor. There is also some philanthropy at work here.

Jain, who incidentally teaches at the Delhi Blind School, plans to keep aside some seats for the underprivileged at Playhouse, whch she sees as a self-funding operation.