Asics to expand retail presence, product portfolio in India

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Dec 4, 2018

Japanese sportswear brand Asics is looking to expand its retail presence across India and also ramp up its offerings by adding new products to tap the booming athleisure market in India.
 

The company plans to add around 16 stores in the coming fiscal and will focus on tier 1 and 2 cities for its new phase of expansion. Asics is planning to add another 8 to 10 stores this fiscal and plans to open stores in cities like Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Jalandhar, Patiala, Nashik, Pune, and Coimbatore, among others.
 
Asics is also expecting apparels and accessories to contribute around 25 percent to its overall revenue in the coming years. Footwear is currently the largest contributor to the company’s revenue with apparel and accessories contributing around 15 to 20 percent.

“The company plans to end the fiscal with 37 stores; and add another 15-16 stores in next fiscal. All stores are franchisee-owned. The focus will be on expanding across both Tier-I and -II cities,” Rajat Khurana, Managing Director, Asics India told Businessline.
 
“We will continue to focus on technology and look to increase presence across categories such as athleisure. Performance clothing continues to be our focus. Apparels and accessories currently account for 15-20 percent of the Asics turnover in India, and the idea is to take it to 20-25 percent over a period of time,” he added.
 
Asics had entered the Indian market with Reliance Retail and decided to go solo in 2015. It currently has 29 mono-brand stores and 300 multi-brand stores across metros and tier 2 cities in India.