Asics North America Delivers Second Straight Year of Profit in 2024 Thanks to Growing Run Specialty Sales
Asics North America wrapped up fiscal 2024 on a high note, delivering its second straight year of profit.
According to the Japanese sportswear company, net sales in North America increased 17.8 percent to 135.0 billion yen (approximately $891.8 million) from 114.6 billion yen ($756.9 million) in fiscal 2023.
Asics noted the increases were attributed to significant sales growth for run specialty stores, reduction of the sales volume of entry models, improvement in profitability of retail and the sales growth of e-commerce.
“We are so very fortunate that our Asics global headquarters team in Kobe, Japan supports our long-term vision for the region and continues to collaborate with our team to provide the necessary resources to manage all channels of our business,” Koichiro Kodama, president and chief executive officer of Asics North America, said in a statement. “Our focus remains on servicing our valued account partners and providing them with all the necessary tools for success.”
By business segments, the company added that the North American region showcased a diverse set of category strengths, with the United States producing double-digit growth inside the wholesale channel while Canada and Mexico both generated double-digit growth in their respective e-commerce channels. U.S. wholesale maintained its streak of double-digit quarterly growth, with all categories of business contributing to the overall 43.6 percent growth against the fourth quarter of 2023, Asics said.
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The running specialty trade channel also saw high double-digit growth compared to the same period last year. Asics said this was driven by the launch of NovaBlast 5 shoe in December, which generated triple digit year-over-year quarterly growth and was supported by two key legends, the Gel-Nimbus and Gel-Cumulus footwear models. Both of which produced high double-digit growth compared to the same period last year.
As for the popular Sportstyle category, Asics noted that it remained “red hot” in the final quarter of 2024, generating triple-digit revenue growth against the same period in 2023. Following in the footsteps of the popular heritage running silhouette, Gel-Kayano 14 shoe, the two leading sales drivers for Q4 2024 were the Gel-1130 and GT-2160. Both footwear models produced high triple digit sales growth compared to same period in 2023.
Rounding out the category is Asics’ Core Performance Sports line, which includes the brands tennis and racket sport products. As a whole, the category increased 54.6 percent compared to Q4 of 2023 and was driven by a mix of high performance and entry level footwear models. The Gel-Resolution and Gel-Dedicate court models served as the top selling styles to support the continued growth and popularity of racket sports.
What’s more, Asics said that for the first time in a decade, its retail division generated profit over the full year of 2024 – led by the brands flagship store in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, growing 72.1 percent year-over-year. Following similar trends as the wholesale trade, key sales drivers were Asics’ energetic Blast product silo and Legends footwear models, including the Gel-Nimbus shoe.
“In a very short time, we have made great strides in the run specialty channel as well as the Sportstyle category,” Kodama added. “We remain strongly committed to building innovative products with unparalleled quality, and all the while providing the very best service to our key account partners.”
These regional results come as the overall Asics Corporation saw net sales in fiscal 2024 increase 18.9 percent to 678.5 billion yen ($4.48 billion) from 570.4 billion yen ($3.77 billion) in 2023.
