Shawn, I was partner in a specialty running store for 6 years and each year Asics was the #1 brand in “Running Stores”. Has this changed? Kill Bill certainly helped with the fashion end of sales (ie the “lifestyle” section on your website) but it seems that as long as Asics brings technical shoes for “real” runners to market that they do so knowing that the people that buy on looks (ie Nike Shox, Adidas ClimaCool etc.) are never going to evolve into your core customer. As someone in a previous post stated, the masses are basically sheep and whoever has the biggest ad budget will get more than their fair share…whether it’s deserved or not. I don’t know many people that would say that a Nike Kantara is technologically superior to an Asics Kayano but Nike will outsell Asics in almost every instance.
That being said; I was already a big fan, and owned, Elite bicycles (I have two), Zipp race wheels, DeSoto Sport clothing, Speedplay pedals, Craft baselayer, Syntace bars, King headsets and asics/mizuno lightweight trainers long before I lurked/posted on this site. ST definitely influenced my decision to purchase the Fizik Arione and DeSoto T1 (although the test swim @ Wildflower really closed the deal). Also, I’ll probably end up riding a compact crankset before the end of the '05 season due in part to what I’ve read here and while I’ve done 2 Ironmans I now feel compelled to do one off the continent…perhaps Brazil or Korea
Yup, ST has definitely helped me spend money I don’t have on equipment that I don’t need.
I think that’s the only brand I’ve bought in the last 2 years… Thanks for the great shoes, but please quit messing with the 20X0 series… it seems that the “odd” ones in the series have been much better than the even ones. (just my opinion).
Currently stocking up on 2090s while I still can. Looking for 2070s, but can’t find them.
Kill Bill I and II have definitely helped the Onitsuka Tiger line. The OT line will be featured in a number of big budget movies coming out next year, and that’s very exciting for all of us here. ASICS is committed to the core athletes, running specialty, and those looking for the best technical running shoes. We are also a business looking to broaden its customer base, so you’ll start to see different styles in more stores, places we really haven’t been before. You’ll also start to see our ads in more mainstream magazines as we try to get the brand out in front of new people. However, the technical line, the Kayanos, Nimbus, 2000 series, etc. will remain the bread and butter of the company. Sales are very strong this year and early orders for next year are well above projection. It’s a good time to be here. Thanks for the support. And yes, we are still number one or two in most running specialty stores.
