Why are asics shoes not available in 2022?
Updated 3.13.23
2023 Good news, bad news. The good news for fans of asics court shoes is that with the resolution of some major supply chain issues, asics is resuming production and distribution of court shoes in the first quarter of 2023. They will once again dedicate resources to tennis, indoor court and other sports shoes that had been largely unavailable for a limited time. The bad news (for us) is that while asics has chosen to re-partner with accounts like us in the USA, they will be discontinuing our ability to sell their shoes on line. This means that we will be selling asics court shoes in-store only. This is terrific for our local clientele, but frustrating to our internet customers. Our apologies for this turn of events - it is out of our control unless things change down the road.
Updated 8.21.22
We are happy to announce that while asics has remained steadfast in its decision not to broadly pursue the court shoe market, some asics court shoes are back on a limited basis. They will continue limited production and distribution through a very select group of retailers and distributors. When we can obtain them, we will, however we won't have visibility nor guarantees of what will be available for a certain window. Expect to see them available on more of an ad hoc basis. One thing is for sure, our customers are grabbing them when they can! Despite the changes, asics brand loyalty remains very high.
Updated 2.11.22
asics has officially announced it is closing down most retailer agreements to distribute their shoes in the U.S. as of January, 2022 due to supply chain issues caused by Covid. They may continue to move forward with a couple of key, national accounts. The announcement did leave the door slightly open with the mention that if, down the road, they recover from these issues there could be a future for their goods in the U.S. Here, in part is what asics released regarding their 2021 and 2022 shoe and apparel shortage:
The current global situation of supply shortages, factory shutdowns, transportation disruptions, and other circumstances beyond ASICS’ control have strained vendors and suppliers and left ASICS with product inventory well below expected levels.
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There is a lot of conjecture in the tennis industry about asics and what has happened to its court shoe business. While we don't have the answer to the question of asics demise, we do have some intel. In November of 2021, asics has let go most, if not all of its internal customer service account reps that handle court shoe account. This seems a strong sign that their court-shoe future is in question. asics did not provide any indication that we were losing our contacts and gave no explanation of what was happening. We just had all of our orders cancelled into the forseeable future and that was that.
In recent years, asics had become a leader in the court shoe category with its Gel Resolution shoe in particular and also with recreational tennis shoes like the Gel Game and Gel Dedicate. asics has been unable to produce shoes and distribute court shoes in 2021. This has left a hole in the industry that has now been filled by K-Swiss (the new leader in court shoes), Wilson, HEAD and others.
Be it Covid supply issues or an intentional business decision to focus resources toward other footwear silos, the fact remains that the marketplace is devoid of asics tennis shoes at this time.
If you are waiting for an asics tennis shoe, our thoughts based on the "view into asics from our side" would be to move along to another brand. Don't panic! And who knows? Like many of our customers, you may find that new favorite shoe for your foot and your game!
Tags: asics tennis shoes, no asics availability, where are asics tennis shoes