Irvine-based Asics America Corp. is moving its headquarters within the Irvine Spectrum.
The American subsidiary of Japanese athletic shoe and apparel maker Asics Corp. has outgrown its 44,716-square-foot office off Laguna Canyon Road and recently signed a lease for a 50,000-square-foot building at 29 Parker, owned by The Irvine Company.
Asics has grown its operations and needed more space to accommodate future expansion, according to spokeswoman Heather Moening.
“(The company) has grown at a feverish clip,” Moening said. “We were definitely in need of more space for the U.S. headquarters. We figured we should move sooner rather than later before we were forced to move due to space limitations.”
Asics America grew its sales more than 20% to $380 million in 2006 and more than 11% to $427 million in 2007, Moening said.
Its parent company, which is headquartered in Kobe, generated more than $1.6 billion in revenue last year.
Asics counts some 250 workers in the U.S., including about 150 at its Irvine headquarters and 103 people at its warehouse in Mississippi.
The company’s new headquarters will oversee design for shoes, apparel and accessories, sales, marketing, accounting and advertising, Moening said.
Asics makes shoes, clothes, hats, socks, kneepads and athletic bags under the Asics, SportStyle and Onitsuka Tiger brands.
Runners, wrestlers, cheerleaders and other athletes wear its shoes and clothes.
Asics competes with a handful of others including Nike Inc., Adidas AG and its Reebok International Ltd. and Aliso Viejo-based American Sporting Goods Corp., which makes shoes under the And 1, Ryka and Triple Five Soul brands.
About 90% of Asics’ sales come from its shoes.
The company, like most of its rivals, makes its products in Asia.
Asics has felt the pinch that many apparel makers have experienced in recent years with the rising cost of materials, fuel and labor.
The expenses that come with running a manufacturing business could push the company to raise prices, Moening said.
“We are experiencing rising costs which will most likely translate to higher-priced goods,” Moening said.
The company’s shoes sell from $100 to $135 at stores owned by retailers including New York-based Foot Locker Inc. and Los Angeles’ Sport Chalet Inc.
Despite this year’s economic slowdown and challenging retail environment, Moening said Asics expects to continue generating double-digit sales growth and doesn’t plan to grow by buying companies.
The company saw some executive changes earlier this year.
Asics appointed Nobuo Oda as chairman and chief executive of its American headquarters in March.
His predecessor, Seiho Gohashi, served as chairman and chief executive of the company for four years and was an executive with its Japanese parent company for 26 years.
Gohashi still is involved with Asics and is heading up its Asia business, Moening said.
Oda oversees Asics’ American operation and splits his time between Irvine and Japan. He’s been with the company for 40 years.
