MAHAVIR OPTICS

Ever been irritated by hovering salesmen while trying on spectacle frames at your local optician?  Mahavir Optics is going to change all that.  At its swanky new showroom in Chetpet, you can walk in and try on coolers or spectacle frames yourself and solicit the help of the sales persons only if you need.  Almost all the displays have been arranged with this intention in mind.  Says Mahendra S Shah, “This is what we had in mind when we planned this showroom and the groundwork for this took us about two and half months.  We have taken care of small details such as a bigger eye testing room and designed the counter for trying on contact lenses in such a way so as to make it easy for the person.  We have a full time optometrist and charge a very nominal fee for testing”.

Mahavir Optics has been in the eye care business since 1958, when Shantilal Shah first set up shop as a wholesaler of optical goods.  They have since then made great progress and branched out into retailing.  Though it has hardly been three years since they entered into retailing, they have already made their name a brand by itself.  They now have three showrooms at Parrys Corner, Cathedral Road and the latest one at Chetpet.  Mahendra and his brothers Asmukh and Kiran take care of the business now.

Their latest showroom at Chetpet is an ideal location, as it is in the heart of the city and in the vicinity of a prominent lifestyle store. The all glass façade, classy interiors while pleasing are not intimidating and the displays are certainly a welcome change.  And that is not all, there is to it.  For all those busy executives who hate to break off their schedule and make a visit to their optician in the evening or during the day, Mahavir’s is planning to re-introduce its ‘6 a.m. to 11 p.m.’ routine, which had drawn a tremendous response at its earlier outlets.  “This timing helps office goers to pick up their spectacle frames without disturbing their schedule” says Shah. The showroom has all major international brands and spectacle frames and sunglasses in the range of Rs 290/- to Rs 9990/-.  There are even frames made of 18 karat gold that are priced anywhere between Rs 25,000/- and Rs 40,000/-.

Speaking about the customer profile, he said, “I expect the middle and upper middle class and those having a high disposable income.  I don’t expect a deluge of orders but would rather prefer to have just four or five units of sales a day.  I want high value customers and even if there are a few of them, I would be able to give them better service” .

Future plans for Mahendra include opening more branches through the franchisee route and also position his showroom as ‘boutiques’ for optical accessories.

Address: Mahavir Optics, # Salzburg Square, 107, Harrington Road, Chetpet, Chennai 600 031.
Phone: 822 3171 / 6162