Uniqlo Plans US Launch.

[Mulboyne]

Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing eyes U.S. market entry in 2006

Fast Retailing Co, a Japanese casual-clothing store operator known for its Uniqlo brand, will try to enter the U.S. market as early as 2006, company President Genichi Tamatsuka said in a recent interview.
"We will try to have the first store in the United States as soon as we can after the business year ending in August 2006," Tamatsuka told Kyodo News

SAP PDF Praising Uniqlo UK (2001)

The UK is vital to Uniqlo as the launch-pad for a major ongoing expansion programme into other markets. And with the current rate of success, Uniqlo...will be setting the trends for many years to come.

Guardian: Uniqlo retreats from British fashion market (2003)

Poor sales have forced Japan's Fast Retailing - the company that two years ago boasted it would revolutionise UK fashionwear - to close most of its Uniqlo stores in Britain against a backdrop of fading popularity at home.

[Taro Toporific]

Guardian: Uniqlo retreats from British fashion market (2003)

Poor sales have forced Japan's Fast Retailing - the company that two years ago boasted it would revolutionise UK fashionwear - to close most of its Uniqlo stores in Britain against a backdrop of fading popularity at home.

Gee, I didn't know the retail market for midget clothing was that hot.
(Uniqlo's mens size "X- Large" could only sell in the childrens section in the States).

I will lay good money, that Uniqlo USA will copy the upscale route that MUJI did.
BTW: Is there still a MUJI in America? They used to have an obscenely overpriced store in NYC that charged more than the Japanese stores.

[emperor]

Guardian: Uniqlo retreats from British fashion market (2003)

According to Uniqlos UK page http://www.uniqlo.co.uk
theyve just opened 2 new stores - maybe theyre implementing a new strategy..?

[Captain Japan]

Poor sales have forced Japan's Fast Retailing - the company that two years ago boasted it would revolutionise UK fashionwear - to close most of its Uniqlo stores in Britain against a backdrop of fading popularity at home.

Uniqlo was appealing here for a time because there were very few alternatives; you had the high-high end stuff and the ridiculously cheap stuff. That's not necessarily the case anymore. But in the States, there's loads of companies offering mid-range clothing. I don't see this working, just like it didn't work in the UK.

[Mulboyne]

According to Uniqlos UK page http://www.uniqlo.co.uk theyve just opened 2 new stores - maybe theyre implementing a new strategy..?

I saw that too. Slightly odd. Then again, they have picked themselves up in Japan, albeit perhaps temporarily, so they might be coming back for more.
In Japan, the company has imploded at least three times during its history, so they may be more willing to fail a few times overseas than the average Japanese retailer. And fail is undoubtedly what they will do.

Is there still a MUJI in America?

No US sites mentioned on their website but I did see this on the Japan Biz UK site

Ryohin Keikaku has been selling goods, including aluminium business card cases, at a store at the Museum of Modern Art in New York since 2002, but it has not yet opened any Muji brand outlets in the US. It is aiming to open one in the US and another in China, either in Beijing or Shanghai, next year [2005], with the goal of making a profit in the first year at the US store and in three years at the Chinese outlet.

[Taro Toporific]

Is there still a MUJI in America?

No US sites mentioned on their website but I did see this on the Japan Biz UK site

Ryohin Keikaku has been selling goods, including aluminium business card cases, at a store at the Museum of Modern Art in New York since 2002, but it has not yet opened any Muji brand outlets in the US. It is aiming to open one in the US and another in China, either in Beijing or Shanghai, next year [2005], with the goal of making a profit in the first year at the US store and in three years at the Chinese outlet.

Ahhh, that explains the HIGH prices I saw on items at the MUJI store in NYC that was shown on Japanese TV while ago. Museum of Modern Art in New York is not known its for low prices, hee, hee. The novelity of those MUJI aluminium business card cases points to their market niche---trendy goods for folks wanting a bit of Japaneseque cache. Pier 1 for 00s.

[Captain Japan]

And Seoul as well...
Fast Retailing to open Uniqlo store in Seoul

Fast Retailing Co. said Tuesday it will open a Uniqlo casual clothing store in Seoul next fall.

Chief Executive Tadashi Yanai told a news conference the firm plans to open 20 to 30 outlets in South Korea in three years, with annual revenue targeted at 10 billion yen.

[Mulboyne]

I just googled "Uniqlo" and "US" to see if there was any more news and this thread came up top...

[Taro Toporific]

I just googled "Uniqlo" and "US" to see if there was any more news and this thread came up top...

That happens all the time with FG Threads. We better start charge more for our consultiing, hee, hee.


(You would be surprised how often we're quoted at Walmart-Seiyu directors' meetings.)

[Taro Toporific]

I will lay good money, that Uniqlo USA will copy the upscale route that MUJI did.
BTW: Is there still a MUJI in America? They used to have an obscenely overpriced store in NYC that charged more than the Japanese stores.

Museum Quality
How a "no-brand" Japanese retail chain found a home at a MoMA store
NY Times (Magazine) 2AM 9 Jan
Someday, Andy Warhol once mused in one of his many deadpan ruminations on the future, ''all department stores will become museums, and all museums will become department stores.'' If this has not happened literally, it has practically....MoMA Design Store: the first North American Muji outlet. A consumer-goods chain with 280 stores in Japan, Muji has managed to stake out space in something so presumably highfalutin as a museum design boutique partly because the 270 or so Muji objects for sale in the SoHo store are (according to store publicity) ''appealing, useful and essential'' items for the ''design-savvy consumer.''....more....

[DJEB]

Ought to be a big hit with people whose arms and legs are stubby...

[Skankster]

Guardian: Uniqlo retreats from British fashion market (2003)

According to Uniqlos UK page http://www.uniqlo.co.uk
theyve just opened 2 new stores - maybe theyre implementing a new strategy..?

Its called a loan

[Mulboyne]

[L S]

Ought to be a big hit with people whose arms and legs are stubby...

Ya, I wonder if they will go provide BIG sizes for fat FGs like GAP does....

[Taro Toporific]

Will Japan knock off the Gap?
Uniqlo wants to be No.1 global clothing retailer. Can it challenge the Gap on its home turf?
August 23, 2005: 12:49 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -"We don't intend to stop until we become the world's No. 1 casual apparel company."
That sounds like a direct challenge thrown at you if you're Gap Inc. (Research), currently the world's largest specialty apparel retailer with 3,000 stores worldwide and annual sales of $16.2 billion. ...
<big snip>
...Despite its gung-ho attitude, analysts predict a bumpy road for Uniqlo as well. For one thing, Americans probably have never heard of the brand and it will take a huge marketing effort of the company's part to educate U.S. consumers.
"Uniqlo has failed in Europe and China. It's been successful only in Japan where it's perceived to be a rip-off of the Gap," said AT Kearney's Marra. "The company is innovating with its products, retail and marketing strategy in Japan but the U.S. is a completely different ballgame with too may entrenched players already."
Guess Gap can relax -- for now.

[senshisteph]

Gee, I didn't know the retail market for midget clothing was that hot.
(Uniqlo's mens size "X- Large" could only sell in the childrens section in the States).

There was one near me when I lived in the Midlands (though it shut fairly quckly) and I found the sizes to be pretty generous - I'm a UK 16 and I could actually get into some of their size 14 skirts!!

[Taro Toporific]

[Taro Toporific]

[Kuang_Grade]

[Bucky]

[IparryU]

Looks like Abercrombie and Fitch is hitting rough patch in Japan


Another American retailer finding Japan ain't a bed of roses. How do their priced compare with Uniqlo?

A&F doesn't look that different from the cloths at Mervyns... seriously. the only difference is the price tag.

My lil bro used to work at A&F and gave me hella cloths for free... which is the only reason why I have them... but no way in hell would i go there to shop.

[matsuki]

LOL, do they advertise at all?

[GomiGirl]

I walked past the A&F store in Ginza last Sunday and it was totally bizarre. There was a line of people around the corner and the windows were totally blacked out and the music was pumping like an 90's techno rave.

No way that we were going in there.

[matsuki]

So everyone waits to get in, gawks at the prices, and leaves?