ASICS announces the opening of the ASICS Tiger brand concept store on Garosugil Road in Seoul’s Sinsa-dong area on April 7, as well as the re-opening of the Onitsuka Tiger flagship store in Seoul’s Myeongdong special district on April 27.
ASICS is quietly having a fantastic year. While all of the attention has been heaped on adidas and the performance talk is all about Nike and Breaking2, ASICS has released some incredible collaborations and they have been making a concerted effort to rebrand and position themselves in the new retail society.
Like the big brands launching flagship stores in the US in the midst of constant retail store closings, ASICS is moving rapidly at the global level having opened flagship locations in the UK and now with these two stores in Korea.
The Onitsuka Tiger Myeongdong flagship store re-opened in a new location on April 27. Like Onitsuka Tiger’s biggest Japanese flagship store Onitsuka Tiger Omotesando and large-scale standalone store Onitsuka Tiger Shibuya, the Myeongdong store concept is new-old and East-West. The store’s image communicates a vintage as well as futuristic feel mixing East and West. Pieces by modern artist chandelier designer Kim Sung-ha and furniture designer Lee Kwang-ho are on display to mark the new opening. The creative and original interior is intended to express the Onitsuka Tiger brand’s global feel.
The first floor of the two-story outlet displays a variety of merchandise, but primarily shoes. The Onitsuka Tiger x ANDREA POMPILIO collaborative series and Onitsuka Tiger NIPPON MADE line are available on the second floor.
It’s not just the store openings but their efforts in developing their markets via content is strong as well. The ASICS magazine site is a perfect platform for distributing information about the brand. This move is in line with Nike’s launch of air.jordan.com and is becoming a business trend as brands begin to shift the focus from only their social platforms back to where conversion could take place at a higher rate via their websites.