London-based Leightons Opticians has rebranded, with a new store and logo design, as it plans to double its store estate in the next five years.

The family-owned retailer, which operates 33 stores, has refitted its Putney Exchange store to attract a younger demographic.

Based in London, Leightons plans to refit the whole store estate to the new format in the next four years, although elements of the new look will be rolled out sooner.

The refit draws on the 85-year-old retailer’s long association with pink, the colour ink founder Oscar Leighton used to use in his fountain pen.

Leightons chief executive and grandson of the founder Ryan Leighton said he also plans to grow to 70 stores within the next three to five years through acquisitions or joint ventures.

Leighton said the rebrand came after customer insight showed that the appearance of the shops was putting younger customers off visiting.

“There was a lot of cabinetry and cherry wood finishing and burgundy in the old stores,” he said. “It felt very comfortable but a lot of customers said ‘yes, you’ve got good products but your shops don’t pop’.”

The new stores now have exposed brick work and special audiology rooms for those customers who are hard of hearing.

“We want to offer the gold-standard service of optical retail where we devote a lot more time to the customer,” he said.

Leightons is also planning to launch its first transactional website next month.

The optical retailer grew turnover 4% to £17m in the year to December 31, 2013.

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