What if you could get a perfect set of white teeth in just 15 minutes and that without having to undergo painful procedures at the dentist? Sounds wonderful, isn’t it? SmileBar India’s first-of-its kind lounge style Cosmetic Teeth Whitening facility delivers ‘whiter teeth’ in just 15 minutes. It guarantees up to 8 shades whiter teeth in a single treatment with a sensitivity free technology which is enamel safe as well. Nivedita Jayaram Pawar has more details.
During one of his business trips to the U.S, Faraaz Patel, Managing Director, Smile Labs Cosmetic Pvt. Ltd., realised the importance of teeth whitening and the lack of such services in India. People in India do not invest in teeth grooming because of the lengthy procedures, costs and common allied fears of visiting a dentist. That paved the way for the launch of SmileBar – and pain-free and quick service for teeth grooming. Considering the lack of grooming in the smile/teeth department coupled with the food habits of Indians, Patel believes that SmileBar is just what is needed in the Indian context. “While we have many options in hair and skincare grooming, we do not have any facilities for smile grooming. I realised that people in India do not invest in teeth grooming for various reasons, time being one of them. So, I thought of offering a lifestyle and pain-free service for teeth grooming by launching SmileBar. Also, there is a gap in the cosmetic teeth whitening space, where a consumer has no opportunity to avail the service in quick time in a snug lifestyle setting. SmileBar is the first lounge format fulfilling this consumer need in India,”says Patel.
The relaxing treatment
The all white SmileBar outlets are styled like a spa with mood lighting, futuristic pod chairs, nice music and amiable staff. All you have to do is relax, sink into one of the pod chairs and enjoy the music on the headphones while the grooming team works on your pearly whites. To achieve brighter teeth the procedure uses a special paint-on technique with teeth whitening gel along with light technology. SmileBar has roped in grooming expert Rukshana Eisa to groom the team and assist in developing grooming workshops for customers. The basic service is priced at Rs 8,500 for upto 8 shades whiter whereas an advanced treatment costs Rs 12,750 for upto 14 shades lighter teeth.
The equipments used at SmileBar are imported from the United States. The overall start up investment in the first is SmileBar is a few crores. “There is no other service like ours that offers quick solution for whiter teeth. We have been getting a very good response and we expect to break even in a year’s time. We will be offering various packages to the customers for special days that will help increase our customer base,” explains Patel. Each outlet is equipped with four working pods, 3-5 therapists trained by Rukshana Eisa and Dr Viraj Kakade, the in-house dental expert.
Smile Labs Cosmetic Pvt. Ltd is the Indian distributor and master franchisee of Smile SmileLABS™ one of the leading cosmetic teeth whitening companies in the United States with its corporate headquarters in Arizona. Smile Labs is also the exclusive distributor for Smile LABS™ products in UAE, Singapore and Hong Kong along with India.
SmileLABS ™ pioneered the concept of providing teeth whitening system in a lounge style ambience and has been quite popular in many countries; it is currently available in UAE & Australia besides the US of A. It has over 200 outlets across these countries.
Retail Presence
Currently there are two outlets of SmileBar in Mumbai and one at the Snip Salon & Spa in Calangute, Goa. “Goa is a very popular tourist destination both for foreign and Indian nationals. Foreigners are more conscious as far as teeth grooming is concerned and generally look for teeth whitening places while on holiday. Also, Goa is party capital and a facility like SmileBar will offer a swift teeth grooming solution to its visitors in a lounge format. We plan to reach premium markets across the country during the year. In phase 1 we will be focusing on Metros and Tier 1 cities,” says Patel.
Future Plans
SmileBar plans to expand nationally with 40 outlets within a period of one year. By the end of 2015 Patel plans to have 150 outlets across India with an average store size between 400 – 800 sq. ft. The basic investment in the following outlets will be in the range of Rs. 40 – 60 lakhs each.
The plan is to introduce the concept through company owned stores and shop-in-shop lounge formats in phase one and then explore the franchisee model in phase two. Explaining the location strategy Patel said, “At the moment we are looking for spaces in areas where the density of SEC A and A+ is higher. We are looking at prime locations where there is maximum visibility and easy accessibility. We will be looking at malls in cities like Delhi. The focus is to set-up SmileBars at malls and spas in addition to vantage city locations, where people can get brighter teeth in minutes.”
