Oboz, the six-year-old American brand of outdoor shoes from Bozeman, Montana, is entering the Japanese market for the autumn/winter 2014/15 season through a distribution agreement with Itochu Corporation. The big Japanese trading company had been distributing another brand of outdoor footwear, Keen, for nine years. It is still the distributor of Marmot and Outdoor Products in addition to sports and lifestyle brands such as Converse and Penfield. Masaki Wada, who is managing Oboz' distribution in Japan, has already received good feedback from some Japanese retail buyers. As reported in the previous issue, the brand showed its collection in Europe for the first time last month at the Ispo fair, following the signature of a distribution agreement with the Bollin Group of the U.K. The brand is already sold in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Australia and New Zealand

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