Onitsuka Tiger targets 12 stores in India by 2020

Japan-based luxury fashion brand Onitsuka Tiger, which forayed into the Indian market last month, is looking to have around 12 brand stores in tier-I cities by 2020, a top company official said.
Asics is aiming to establish its Onitsuka Tiger brand in Indian market in next 2-3 years as the company is sensing a good opportunity with growing number of aspirational class in metro cities.
As per its strategy, it will build up a sales network by adding 3-4 stores every year on franchise model to cash in on increasing and growing appetite for luxury things.
"We plan to add 3-4 Onitsuka Tiger stores every year for the next few years. We aim to achieve a sizeable growth by 2020," Asics India Managing Director Rajat Khurana told PTI.

The company has recently opened its first store in Mumbai.
"We see a huge potential in Tier 1 cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Pune for opening Onitsuka Tiger Stores in the coming years," he added.

Onitsuka Tiger shoe range starts from Rs 5,999 and goes up to Rs 30,000.
Presently, the Indian footwear retail market is one of the rapidly growing sectors today and is the second largest footwear producer in the world, he added.
"There seems to be ever increasing and growing appetite for luxury things. India has, hence, become an aspirational market for the high-end International brands like us. This all means that we can grow a lot in India," Khurana said.

The company is looking for a franchise based growth here. Besides, it is also looking to harness the potential of the online channel for sales growth.
"Eventually, we will be ramping up distribution of products through regional distributors and e-commerce portals," he added.
Asics, the Japanese performance sportswear firm, had entered the Indian market in 2015 and launched its sports lifestyle brand following encouraging response here.
"In phase one, we focused on increasing brand awareness, strengthening our reach, the distribution of our products and showcasing our range of Asics and Asics Tiger brands. Now in Phase 2, the time is right for us to launch our Onitsuka Tiger first-ever mono-brand store in India," Khurana added.

Established in 1949, the company was started by Kihachiro Onitsuka in Kobe Japan. Presently, 90-92 per cent sales comes from footwear segment and rest from apparels.
"Globally, we are aiming a sizeable growth in the apparel category," he said.