ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has concluded a distribution agency contract with Shanghai Really Sports CO.,LTD (headquartered in Shanghai, China; Wu jianguang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; hereinafter “Shanghai Really”) via ITOCHU TEXTILE (CHINA) CO., LTD., (headquartered in Shanghai, China; Joji Otsuka, Chairman; hereinafter “ITS”), a Chinese subsidiary of ITOCHU, to sell the OUTDOOR PRODUCTS brand within China.

The OUTDOOR PRODUCTS brand originated in Los Angeles, the United States, in 1973, and has established a solid position in the outdoor scene, not only in the United States but around the globe. It uses the strong CORDURA® nylon fabric and offers a broad array of products including the 452 Model, said to be “synonymous with the daypack.” Its products are sold in more than 60 countries worldwide centering on the United States and Japan. ITOCHU acquired the trademark rights of the OUTDOOR PRODUCTS brand in 19 countries and regions in the world in November 2012. Since then, ITOCHU has been successively expanding the brand in regions centering on Asia, including Japan.

Shanghai Really has been handling numerous leading sports brands, such as adidas, NIKE, NEW BALANCE, PUMA and CONVERSE since its establishment in 2003, and has grown to become a prominent sports apparel sales agency in China. Today, annual sales of Shanghai Really total 3 billion yuan. Meanwhile, the company has expanded to operate over 1,000 flagship stores in the retail business in China, including the eastern section (Zhejiang Province, Jiangsu Province, Shanghai), central section (Hunan, Hubei), the Fujian Province and Beijing. Specifically in Shanghai where the headquarters are located, the business operates stores in major commercial facilities, such as the Westgate Mall, the New World City shopping center, and Grand Gateway Shanghai.

ITOCHU is stepping up the global expansion of its brand business, one of its strengths, and positioning itself in major markets in Asia and newly developing countries, including China. As a result of this tie-up, ITOCHU will aim to achieve sales of around 100 million yuan (around 1.7 billion yen on a nominal retail sales basis) in five years by fiscal year 2019 through the expansion of the OUTDOOR PRODUCTS brand and improving the brand’s value even further by making use of the sales capability of Shanghai Really and marketing and brand operation functionality of ITS.

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