Sports wear brand ASICS steps up India focus

In 2016, the company plans to add another 10-14 stores

The world's fourth-largest sports wear brand ASICS, which recently launched its second store in Mumbai, proposes to add another three outlets in cities such as Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad respectively by the end of 2015.

The Chennai store will be launched this month, ASICS' India director Rajat Khurana said. "In 2016, we propose to add another 10-14 stores," he said. "The idea is to build a strong network of stores in the first few years. Once we have saturated the top 10-12 cities, we will enter the tier two markets," Khurana said.

All of ASICS stores are franchisee-owned at the moment. Company-owned stores with 100 per cent FDI are expected to come later, Khurana says, once the brand acquires scale and begins local manufacturing of shoes, fulfilling the 30 per cent local sourcing norms required for the purpose.  

"We have begun local production of apparels. Going forward, we intend to see how local production of shoes can begin," Khurana says.

ASICS' India push comes at a time when rivals such as Adidas are taking the next leap in their India business having entered the country ahead of the Japanese major.

Adidas recently got the government’s approval to run a chain of fully-owned flagship stores. This is in keeping with the recent revision in rules that allows a franchisee model to exist side-by-side with company-owned stores having 100 per cent FDI. Most brands including Nike, which tried twice, are looking to take advantage of this revision as they seek to launch company-owned stores that allows them greater control of their retail networks.

While ASICS has been in India since 2010 through a tie-up with Reliance Retail, it ventured out on its own early this year, launching its first store through the franchisee route in Delhi at Select City Walk.

The company, says Khurana, has identified India as a priority market and is stepping up investments in sales, marketing and brand-building.