Asics to open own stores in India, targets Rs 200 revenue by 2021

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Apr 9, 2018

Sportswear brand Asics is looking to open fully owned company stores in India by increasing its manufacturing in the country to 30 percent in order to comply with the rules under foreign direct investment.
 

Foreign companies investing in India are expected to source 30 percent of its products locally, post which they become eligible for single brand retail and can have fully owned stores in the country.
 
Currently Asics sources just 10 to 12 percent from India and is looking to scale up its manufacturing in apparel and footwear in the coming months. The company is expecting to triple its revenue in the country to Rs 200 crore (approx $31 million) over the next three years.

"After meeting 30 percent sourcing norms for FDI in single-brand retail, we can go for bigger stores. We will apply for FDI in single-brand retail. With our own stores, we will have a better brand governance. The moment we will reach 30 percent of sourcing/ manufacturing from India, we will have our own stores, we will look at operating a mix of both partner stores and as well as our own retail stores," ASICS India MD Rajat Khurana was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
 
"We started local production of apparel in 2017. Later, we started footwear as well, but only entry point products. It will take time to manufacture high -performance products in India... gradually we are scaling it up. The company is looking at tripling revenue to over Rs 200 crore in the next two-three”, he added.
 
Asics decided to go solo the Indian footwear market in 2015 after breaking ties with Reliance Retail, and currently has 27 mono-brand stores in India. The brand is available on all leading e-commerce websites and multi brand stores in the country which contribute 20 percent to its sales revenue.