The Japanese company plans to open the first European ASICS flagship store on Argyll Street in London in October, and it is scouting the market for similar locations. For the moment, the company has Onitsuka Tiger stores in London as well as Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam and Zurich. The first ASICS store worldwide was opened in Tokyo in February 2007 and a company spokesman says it is the only one currently operating around the world.
Measuring 366 square meters, the London store will blend high technology with Japanese minimalism. It will have two permanent gait assessment areas and feature an all-new high-tech 3-D foot scan system.
The company continued to thrive worldwide during its first quarter, ended June 30, except in Europe. Net profit leaped by 22.6 percent to 7.57 billion yen (€46.2m-$68.8m) on a global revenue increase of 14.9 percent to ¥65.32 billion (€398.6m-$593.9m) compared with the same period last year.
Sales in Japan were up by 20.6 percent to ¥24.60 billion (€150.1m-$223.7m), and outside the domestic market they increased by 14.3 percent to ¥41.65 billion (€254.2m-$378.7m). European sales were up by 0.6 percent to ¥20.30 billion (€123.9m-$184.6m); U.S. sales grew by 6.6 percent to ¥14.11 billion (€86.1m-$128.3m); and sales in the rest of the world skyrocketed by 108.3 percent to ¥6.31 billion (€38.5m-$57.4m).
Total revenues for footwear were up by 17.6 percent to ¥49.61 billion (€302.8m-$451.1m). This was made up of international sales, up by 44.7 percent to ¥12.35 billion (€75.4m-$112.3m), and Japanese sales, up by 10.7 percent to ¥37.26 billion (€227.4m-$338.8m).
The lower-than-expected growth in Europe prompted ASICS to revise its full-year guidance to net income of ¥15.20 billion (€92.8m-$138.2m), down from the previous estimate of ¥15.50 billion. The company forecast net sales of ¥257.00 billion (€1,568.5m-$2,336.7m) for the 2008 fiscal year.
