Tata Group arm Titan Watches targets Kuwait, Oman, Africa for expansion

The plan will see the company entering into new alliances in Kuwait, re-entering Oman, as well an expanding into Africa.

The company is also in the process of drawing up ambitious plans to launch lifestyle products – aside from jewellery and watches – in the GCC market, a senior company executive said.

Titan struck a partnership deal with Oman-based retail major Khimji Ramdas last month, under which Khimji will market watches from Titan, including its popular mass brand, Fastrack, across its retail stores network in the country.

“We have just entered into a new partnership deal in Oman and will soon be announcing a partnership in Kuwait. We are also looking at growing our presence in these and more countries and also entering Africa,” Kuruvilla Markose, COO – international business division, Titan Watch Company, told Arabian Business.

“We will, in parallel, continue to explore opportunities in the region and take our much loved brands and businesses to as many markets as possible,” Markose added.

For the Tata group company, the partnership deal with Khimji Ramdas will mark its re-entry into the Omani market, which it had first entered in the early 1990s through in partnership with The Bahwan Group (TBG). The partnership ended when TBG decided to exit the watch business.

Watchmaking giant strikes partnership deal with Khimji Ramdas to re-enter Oman as part of expansion plans

“Oman is one of the first markets we entered when we decided to go international, back in the 90s. The current foray is a renewal of interest in the country and an attempt to develop Oman as a modern retail based business,” Markose said.

“We have a special place for Oman, as it was the first overseas market for brand Titan.”

The Titan senior executive also said the company planned to expand the distribution network across all key watch retail stores across Oman, with key focus on Muscat and Salalah.

“By the end of 2021 the aim is to be present in 100 stores across Oman,” Markose revealed.

He said the expansion plan was in response to an “overwhelmingly positive response” from various economies in the Middle East region.

“The fact that we operate in the mid premium segment with products and offerings that are exceptional value for money, apart from being very stylish, helps build the connect across markets in the Middle east and Africa region,” he added.

Kuruvilla Markose, COO – international business division, Titan Watch Company

On launching some of the other lifestyle products in the Middle East from the Titan stable such as sunglasses, fragrances, accessories and occasion-wear, Markose said: “Yes, we are soon going to introduce some of our most exciting categories in the region.”

He, however, did not elaborate on the timelines for these launches.

Titan’s plans for further expansion in the Middle East comes amid its aggressive growth in the UAE market, which will see the company expanding its footprint by adding 30 more exclusive showrooms by 2023. Of this, 10 outlets were to be added by last year-end.

The addition of new outlets, owned and operated by Titan’s subsidiary company based in Dubai Titan Global Retail (TGRL), is aimed at achieving a compounded annual growth rate of 35 percent over three years.

Markose also said UAE is the first international market where Titan will be handling all its retail operations directly.

“The ‘fully owned and run retail’ model works in UAE owing to the highly developed retail infrastructure that UAE offers,” he said.