ASICS America plans to stride into Boston by year's end
ASICS America Corp. is targeting a December move-in for its new Boston product creation studio after the athletic footwear and clothing company signed a 10-year lease for 25,168 square feet on Summer Street near South Station.
The Irvine, Calif.-based subsidiary of Japan’s ASICS Corp., which announced in March that it was seeking an East Coast presence for the brand in Boston, is taking second-floor space at 125 Summer St. The building is a block away from ASICS’ Global Digital Hub at 1 Winthrop Square, which opened in spring 2016 and includes the operations of Runkeeper, the mobile running app that it acquired with its $85 million purchase of Hub startup Fitness Keeper Inc. last year.
ASICS’ new Summer Street space will house 50plus employees of its global footwear team, as well as its Americas merchandising and apparel team, according to spokeswoman Melinda Hutcheon. Interior Architects is designing the space.
“Construction is just beginning, but we are targeting a move-in (in) late December,” Hutcheon said. “In the meantime, we will be set up temporarily on the 17th floor at 125 Summer St. This will start in early August to accommodate employees relocating their families over the summer and new hires joining the team now.”
ASICS will join several athletic brand competitors with Boston headquarters: New Balance, Converse and soon, Reebok International, which is relocating from Canton to a new 220,000-square-foot facility at the Innovation & Design Center in the Seaport District. German sneaker brand PUMA also has a Boston office, while Saucony and Keds are based in Waltham, and Italy’s Vibram S.P.A. has U.S. offices in Concord.