Businesses are under threat after footwear brand said it was ditching smaller retailers in favour of big chains and selling direct online
When Dipu Patel, the owner of Euro Sports in north London, received an email from Asics telling him it would no longer supply him with trainers, it was the latest hammer blow to hit the independent retailer.
Sales of the Japanese footwear brand, which makes tennis star Novak Djokovic’s trainers, comprise 40% of Patel’s footwear sales at his sports shop in Swiss Cottage. Patel received an email last month telling him supplies would be halted from January.
