So Im looking to open a running store and the asics rep told me he is happy with his distribution in my area. I find this hard to believe since only 1 specialty shop in town and they never have sizes in stock. Is this typical? Rep told me he is booked out til Sept. Am I screwed?
Yes
Go with Mizuno, Vitruvian and Loco. Karhu if you can swing it. You have options, give the little guys a shot.
BROOKS
That is very similar to the story I got when I ran a running store. We were the only "true" running store in town, but there was another sports store that carried a lot of running shoes about four miles away from us. They carried tons of Asics stuff in baseball and the other sports, that the asics rep did not want to jepordize that account by opening another one. The asics rep was not a running speciality guy, just a general asics guy.
We were successful in transferring lots of Asics wearers to Mizuno, Brooks, etc with our knowledge.
In the end we would have loved to have Asics, but it is not a deal breaker if you have a knowedgable staff. Of course, you are always going to have those people that only want Asics and will not open their mind otherwise, but what can you do about it. You can only sell what you have.
I think that Asics has a huge account with Dicks Sporting Goods. Every time I go in there and ask about a shoe, the first thing they point me to is an Asics.
Good luck.
New guy on the block wrote:
So Im looking to open a running store and the asics rep told me he is happy with his distribution in my area. I find this hard to believe since only 1 specialty shop in town and they never have sizes in stock. Is this typical? Rep told me he is booked out til Sept. Am I screwed?
reps are like the cia always giving out information and misinformation in order to protect the country. our asics rep does not want us to carry mizuno so we do not. but better to carry asics, they pretty much have the most respected name with runners.
maybe they don't want to oversaturate? more likely, he like most people is satisified with where he is. after all it is always easier to maintain the status quo.
I have thought about the oversaturation. In town there is a sports authority and 1 other specialty shop. Town is 25k and county is 300k. Avg income within 5 miles of where I will set up shop is 100k. He was pretty much NO from the get go.
where are you looking to open?
Did he honestly say he's booked through September? That's a laugh. No sales rep in the footwear industry books his appointments that far in advance. The dude is totally blowing you off. what an ass.
we have been denied an account with nike and have been open for over a year. he said he was happy with his distribution as well. our other store carries them, though.
nyc wrote:
our asics rep does not want us to carry mizuno so we do not. but better to carry asics,
he works for you not the other way around. of course your asics rep is going to tell you to not carry Mizuno.
Is there any grey market for Asics shoes, I mean sources you could go to without buying from an official distributor? Any bigtime retailer who would sell you some at a little over wholesale? It seems to be a shame to have to open without at least a skeletal line of Asics in there.
citigirl wrote:
Is there any grey market for Asics shoes, I mean sources you could go to without buying from an official distributor? Any bigtime retailer who would sell you some at a little over wholesale? It seems to be a shame to have to open without at least a skeletal line of Asics in there.
that is no way to help your cause, and all you would be doing is buying business.
in the long run grey market inventory is not going to keep you in business.
If you are having a hard time getting accounts to open you then there is something wrong with your business plan.
Any new store in a good location with someone who knows just a little bit about retail will have all the brands asking to be on the wall.
New guy on the block wrote:
I have thought about the oversaturation. In town there is a sports authority and 1 other specialty shop. Town is 25k and county is 300k. Avg income within 5 miles of where I will set up shop is 100k. He was pretty much NO from the get go.
Town of 25k is small-ish for two specialty shops unless it is a college town with a decent-sized U; large incomes or no. Also depends on how long he has had an account with the other shop. If they have been together for 6+ years, he will naturally be hesitant to give an upstart a new account.
If you can show that you merch shoes well, run a clean and vibrant store, then you will eventually get Asics, but until then, good luck.
I am actually kind of shocked to hear that you couldn't open with Asics. About ten years ago, Asics was very limited with their distribution regions and even went as far as preventing another specialty shop in my area to open 20 miles from our location. Now, however, there are 3 specialty shops in town that carry Asics plus three local athletic shoe stores, the New Balance Shoe House, and multiple Sports Authority locations that carry the brand. I guess all areas are different but it seems that recently Asics will open with anyone.
Nothing to do with business plan. Our first phone call interaction was NO. He basically told me he was happy with distribution in our area and he was booked til Sept. In my town we have 2 specialty bike shops across the street from one another. Two running stores on opposite ends of town can work. Especially when the next closest specialty store is an hour away. The Mizuno rep met with me right away and was fantastic.
i hear someone wants to open a shop in our area. we have an average household income of over $110k. maybe 40,000 in our area. People here are CHEAP and want everything at a discounted rate. We had to mark our shoes down to get their business. They are online shoppers. There is also a store down the road that is practically a general store but carries every running shoe(except specialty only) and has all of their shoes marked down. it can be tough.
gads wrote:
i hear someone wants to open a shop in our area. we have an average household income of over $110k. maybe 40,000 in our area. People here are CHEAP and want everything at a discounted rate. We had to mark our shoes down to get their business. They are online shoppers. There is also a store down the road that is practically a general store but carries every running shoe(except specialty only) and has all of their shoes marked down. it can be tough.
Who's not an online shopper these days....It's just downright crazy not to be. If a particular product saves you 20-30 bucks or more, why buy it anywhere else..I love my local running shop, and I buy from them virtually everything, but I price compare fisrt. People are looking to save money at every corner, the even the local running mom and pop shops will have to compete.
and that's what we are doing. everything is priced according to roadrunner, and you get the fit. so, if it helps us get the online shopper, i'm ok with it.