Asics eyes Thailand for 20% sales boost

Mr Warodom says 10 stores will open this year.

Asics Thailand, the distributor and marketer of Asics sports shoes, is scheduled to open the Asics flagship store at Iconsiam in November to boost sales growth by 20% this year.

Warodom Pranbunpook, the company's country general manager, said the first flagship store will come under a new concept shoe store to help extend the customer base to a younger customer group.

"Thailand has the most potential for Asics shoes in Asean in terms of sales and rising customer numbers," Mr Warodom said. "The company looks set to open 10 new Asics shoe stores this year to cash in on the growing sports trend in Thailand."

He said seven new branches, including one on the third floor of CentralWorld, have opened this year. Three more branches are expected to open by year-end: at Central Chiang Mai, Iconsiam and Terminal 21 in Pattaya.

These will bring total Asics shoe stores to 16 branches this year.

Mr Warodom said the sporting goods business has boomed in Thailand in recent years and the trend is expected to continue this year, with the number of people who are interested in sports growing apace, reflected in the increasing the number of fitness centres across the country.

The number of marathon activities has doubled to 500 events a year, he said, up from 200-300 events five years ago.

Mr Warodom said he wants to create a more youthful image for Asics shoes with the launch of the new designs in the Asics Gel-Kayano 25 line, which has a more "street fashion" sensibility than serious performance shoes.

"For running shoes, we are confident that the Asics brand is the market leader in Thailand," he said.

Thailand's sports shoe market is estimated to be worth 20 billion baht. Asics sales in the first seven months this year grew by 20%, on a par with company projections. Both Asics and Onitsuka shoes are driving growth.

Apart from Asics, the company also plans to open three new Onitsuka shops at Central Phuket, Iconsiam and Terminal 21 in Pattaya in the fourth quarter of this year. Management declined to give further details about the investment.

After establishing a strong foothold in running shoes, the company will shift focus to promote badminton performance shoes next year.

"The market for badminton shoes in Asia is quite big," Mr Warodom said. "In Thailand, the success of Ratchanok 'May' Intanon, the badminton player, spurred sales of our badminton shoes the past few years."

The tennis category will be the next focus for Asics. As a part of the company's vision to be the world's No.1 tennis footwear brand in the future, Asics Corporation, the parent company in Japan, just signed Serbian tennis great Novak Djokovic as brand ambassador.