Sportswear brand ASICS to open five stores by Jan

ASICS, the world's fourth-largest sportswear brand, is looking forward to opening atleast four to five stores by January. The company, which recently launched its second store in Mumbai, first wants to focus on metros.

“We would have our exclusive outlets across top 10 Indian cities, with one or two outlets in each city,” says ASICS' India Director Rajat Khurana. On franchise mode of expansion, he says, “India as a place is a huge demographic market. Instead of appointing a Master Franchisee, we thought working with different franchisors is sensible and more suitable for our brand.  The most vital thing for us is passion for performance. A franchisee must possess this besides the required investment. We provide all the necessary support to all our franchisees. He must also have a long term vision.”

The sports-goods maker, which is present in more than 150 countries, entered India in 2010. “We had a five-year agreement with Reliance Retail, and we did not want to renew the alliance. The market has matured, and we have a much better understanding about the Indian sports shoes market, which is worth about $1 billion,” Khurana adds.