The yellow Onitsuka Tiger shoes worn by Uma Thurman in the movie Kill Bill are giving Asics quite a boost in the global marketplace. The company produced a limited edition of these shoes, making only 3,400 pairs. The Japanese allotment sold out in less than a week.
This marks a change in strategy for Asics, and Japanese analysts are taking notice. Daiwa Securities last week issued a “Market Watch” report praising Asics for its change from a strategy aimed at maintaining profits to a more aggressive style that looks to expand earnings.
Asics recently changed its guidance of group net profits of ¥2.6 billion ($24.0 million) for the interim period ended September 30, topping its previous outlook of a ¥1.8 billion ($16.6 million) profit and beating the roughly ¥2.1 billion ($19.4 million) profit recorded for the same period last year.
In related news, Asics has just joined the EU lobbying group, Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI), as a regular member. This move brings them into a select group of five other sporting goods vendor/manufacturers: adidas-Salomon, La Chemise Lacoste, Nike, Puma, Diadora-Invicta and now, Asics.
FESI represents about 1,800 European companies, or 85% of the market, before the various European authorities the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, as well as many other bodies such as the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), or the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
And Does Some Customs Work Too…
In documents obtained by Sports Executive Weekly late Friday, the U.S. Customs Service has ruled that certain shoes that were developed by Elan-Polo and sold to Wal-Mart and Target Corp. infringe upon Asics registered and recorded trademark for its stripe design.
U.S. Customs has indicated that that the affected shoes, whose origin were outlined in the ruling are subject to “seizure and forfeiture” upon arrival in the U.S.
