Saturday, 6 July 2013 00:00
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By Cheranka Mendis
Positioned as the National Museum Gallery Cafe, Laksala will open a state-of-the-art outlet on the one-and-a-half-acre land adjoining the museum (towards Green Path) in August this year.
Rs. 137 million has been spent on the premises currently and Laksala Chairman and Chief Executive Anil Koswatte expects the numbers to increase to Rs. 185 million upon completion. Cabinet has approved Rs. 220 million for the said project, he said. The construction cost is Rs. 50 million.
“The key focus is the tourists who come to the museum. It is noted that close to 600 to 700 tourists visit the museum per day,” he explained.
A total of 30,000 SKUs will be on display here. Plans are also underway to build an open theatre and restaurant within the allocated land area.
Laksala also plans to open showrooms in Galle Magalla Tourism Centre in September and a refurbished showroom in Kandy in October.
Under the restructuring exercise, Laksala’s decrepit outlets such as those in Galle and Katubedda were revamped as modern gift boutiques while the flagship showroom in Thunmulla was upgraded as a state-of-the-art gift boutique with new facilities, amenities and products in an extended land area. The oldest showroom in Fort is currently under refurbishment.
Showrooms were also established down both ways of the Southern Highway, as well as in Pinnawela, Ja-ela K-Zone and at the Racecourse Building. The floor area of the Bandaranaike International Airport outlet was also increased from 80sqft to 960 sqft under the project. Laksala now has its sights set on Yala and the Botanical Gardens, he revealed.
Chairman Koswatte said Laksala also managed to make its way to the top 50 profitable State-owned business enterprises in 2012. In the Annual Report of the Finance Ministry for 2012 positive observations have been made on Laksala’s performance after its restructuring process. The report has cited Laksala as a recognised business entity among the State sector and has positioned Laksala in the 33rd position among the profitable State-owned organisations.
Restructured and re-modified within two years, it has managed to move away from Rs. 24 million losses in 2008 to a Rs. 73 million profit in 2012. With Q1 financials for this year recording profits of Rs. 20 million, Laksala is likely to touch Rs. 90 million in profits by the end of 2013.
Thanks to the successful streamlining, Laksala has enjoyed an annual sales growth of 75% in 2012 over the previous year, and a 37% increases as at end of June 2013. Reaching half a century mark next year, Laksala has over 7,000 suppliers on board as at now and over 25,000 SKUs.
