‘Shock to the system’: Asics halts supplies to UK independent sports shops

theguardian.com:

W hen Dipu Patel, the owner of Euro Sports in north London, received an email from Asics telling him it would no longer supply him with trainers, it was the latest hammer blow to hit the independent retailer.

Sales of the Japanese footwear brand, which makes tennis star Novak Djokovic’s trainers, comprise 40% of Patel’s footwear sales at his sports shop in Swiss Cottage. Patel received an email last month telling him supplies would be halted from January.

“It’s a shock to the system,” he said. “We will be losing [Asics] customers – they will buy it online. [Asics] have used us as a stepping stone to be where they are and then are going to sell direct.”

Independent sports retailers have said their businesses are under threat after Asics said it was cutting off supply to hundreds of small UK outlets, joining Nike and Adidas in ditching smaller retailers in favour of big chains and selling direct online.

Patel said Euro Sports bought more than £40,000 of footwear a year from Asics even when the brand introduced restrictions on orders because of restrictions in supply linked to factory shutdowns caused by the Covid pandemic.

“We had to let Nike go, but their range is mainly fashion shoes now. We built Asics up over the year as the specialist shoe, and to have that taken away is a bitter pill to swallow,” said Patel.

In a letter seen by the Guardian, Asics said it was halting supplies from next year after “reassessing the relationship with many of our customers”.

It is a hefty blow to hundreds of specialist retailers already suffering from rising costs and weakening demand since the pandemic surge in sales of sports kit. Some larger independent retailers have been cut off by Asics, which sent out emails last month, but other