A Change of Guard

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Monday 6 August 2012

Adidas joins Phnom Penh's fashion district

Monday, 06 August 2012 
By Stuart Alan Becker 
Phnom Penh Post
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Adidas Vietnam Country Manager, Ryan Hart, second from left, joins the Adidas dance team on Saturday for the opening of the new store on Sihanouk Blvd in Phnom Penh. Photograph: Meng Kimlong/Phnom Penh Post
Phnom Penh now offers Adidas brand-name sportswear at #90 Sihanouk Boulevard just west of the Independence Monument in the latest enhancement of what has become Cambodia’s fashion district.

Phnom Penh’s movers and shakers were on hand for Saturday night’s Adidas launch event with a tent-enclosed street-side stage adjacent to the new retail shop where visitors could take a look and get a first-day discount on men’s and women’s athletic shoes, training attire and fashion with an athletic edge.

Adidas Group Vietnam Country Manager Ryan Hart came in from Vietnam to join MW Group General Manager for retail and fashion Alan Ainsworth, who expressed great confidence in Phnom Penh’s retail market based on recent successes.


Owned by the Ming Wuoy Group Ltd, the new Adidas store is not an outlet store, but rather a fully-fledged Adidas retail store where customers can purchase and order new, genuine high-quality Adidas products.

Ainsworth said the push toward retail fashion all started in 1995 when the Ming Wuoy Group opened a fashion concept on Sihanouk called New Collection.

Since then, the MW Group has brought in Pedro Shoes, URS Shoes, both from Singapore, as well as Osim wellness products and Oakley sunglasses.

“I think more people have become brand conscious. It is a natural process. My daughters want Adidas,” he said.

Ainsworth says there’s an advantage to paying higher prices for genuine brand-name merchandise. Athletic shoes for training, football, tennis and golf range in price from $60 to $200. Clothing, men’s and ladies, fashion and athletic range from $24 to $150.

“Our store sells the latest in Adidas fashion, while the outlet stores may be selling last year’s products. Adidas spends millions on research. People are beginning to understand the benefits of using Adidas original products: increased comfort, greater stability, products that are more resistant wear and tear products. The research is all aimed at enhancing the performance of the product whether its apparel or shoes,” he said.

“The products are good and they work,” Ainsworth said. “I don’t have any worries. I’m sure we are going to be successful.”

The first conversation about bringing in the Adidas brand took place in March with a deal signed in May and after a month of construction, the store was ready.

“I think more brands will come to Sihanouk Boulevard. We’re on the fashion street with a lot of brand names.”

The contents of the store fit the categories of sport performance and originals. Many of the shoes are climate cool, with high-technology heat disbursement systems.

Adidas is named for founder Adolph “Adi” Dasler and is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second-largest in the world, with bags, shirts, watches, eyewear, shoes and other sports and clothing-related goods.

The Ming Wuoy (MW) Group also owns the Cosmopolitan Men’s Wear Gallery, Edison Lighting, Ming Wuoy Furniture and Media Way, as well as The Place gym in Cambodia and Myanmar. Also soon to open is their Kylin line of big trucks.

“We took the Pedro franchise from Singapore and it grew very slowly during the first six months,” Ainsworth said, “and then it out-performed Vietnam by the end of the year.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Alan Becker at stuart.becker@gmail.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

that brand, Adidas is popular in some countries, but not too popular in US. It is a cliche and genetic brand.