The Home of ASICS, Paris

ASICS has opened an innovative new performance store in Paris, designed by Manchester based Wests Design, who also developed the Vondelpark running lab concept in Amsterdam.

The brand has always had a scientific approach to retail, but now it has developed a warmer, more ‘philosophical’ side.

This new concept, near the Gare St Lazare in Paris, has kept the same technical focus on personal fit, but developed a more stylish retail environment, moving away from the whiter, more clinical approach of earlier stores.

We always wondered where ASICS got its name. Now we find out that it is actually an acronym of “Anima Sana In Corpore Sano” the Latin for ‘a sound mind, in a sound body’.

The 590 square metre shop is the first ASICS performance store in France and features the brand’s complete running collection alongside sports performance categories including rugby and tennis, and the new ‘Training’ category.

For the first time, the store will also sell merchandise from ASICS sponsored rugby team, Stade Français, in a rugby specific environment.

The store design, with a combination of industrial and natural materials, has a much stronger focus on storytelling. There’s a display area called  “The Anatomy of a Running Shoe”, which shows the raw materials, processes and components used to make a modern ASICS shoe.

Visual merchandising is bold and colourful, with some really strong use of outsize graphics panels and walls. A particularly nice touch is the three Dimensional graphic map of Paris.

To the rear of the store is a new ‘dynamic’ caged display feature wall to show off the latest product stories. Other features include a newly styled ‘softer’ changing rooms.

However, it is the technical offer behind the brand that gives ASICS its expert credibility, and the new store has two key innovative  ‘tech service’ elements.

At the front of the store ‘MOTION ID’, uses a series of high-tech motion sensors to capture customers’ natural posture and style of movement when running to enable staff to specify the best running shoe.

And on the upper floor the ASICS FOOT ID lab, features a 3D foot scanner and a treadmill/camera system which can be used to precisely measure customers’ feet & gait cycle. Store staff can use this data to suggest shoes that best suit the individual’s feet and running style.