Mon, Sep 20, 2010 page12

• FEATURE : Japan’s Uniqlo ready to take Taiwan by storm

  • By Jason Tan / STAFF REPORTER
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  Early this year, when Liu Yi-shan (劉逸姍) took up the offer at Fast Retailing Co, Japan’s biggest clothing retailer, which owns the “Uniqlo” casual wear brand, she was prepared to step into the fashion industry from scratch.

  A former public relations (PR) and advertising executive with a Japanese cosmetic firm, Liu was approached by a headhunter that was tasked to help Fast Retailing scout first-batch management executives as it prepares to launch its first outlet in Taiwan in October.

  “There was no guarantee which department I would work for after the training, despite my expertise in the PR field. I was told I needed to work my way up to a tencho from a shopkeeper,” Liu said. “The process may take two to three years.”

  Tencho is a Japanese term that refers to a shop manager.

  Liu nonetheless decided to jump at the chance, along with 10 other management candidates. They flew to Tokyo at the end of April for two months of training.

  Stationed at Uniqlo’s outlet in the Ginza shopping district, the trainees learned to fold clothes, sew customers’ apparel, worked as cashiers and helped open and close the store.

  And yes, sweeping floors and cleaning toilets were also part of the training routines.

  Liu and her fellow trainees survived the training and she was offered the PR role for Taiwan operations, making her one of the 200-plus employees getting ready for the Taiwan launch.

  The Ginza tencho will be in Taiwan to oversee the first store, in Taipei City. The position requires an experienced leader who has to take responsibility for the store’s daily revenue and adjust product mixes accordingly to boost sales.

  To Uniqlo, a tencho spells the success of an outlet.

  A “Super Star” or “Star”-ranked tencho brings home ¥10 million (US$116,665) to ¥30 million in pay each year. The amount is equivalent to the annual pay of a general manager for a multinational in Taiwan.

  The expansion of Uniqlo into Taiwan has been much-awaited news to most, who view the brand as a “must-shop” when they travel to Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.

  At a Uniqlo press conference held in Taipei early this month, two reporters were already wearing Uniqlo apparel — a T-shirt and an inner shirt.

  The first Uniqlo store here will span 440 pings (1,450m²) at Uni-President Hankyu Department Store (統一阪急百貨), located in Xinyi District (信義). Uniqlo’s ­opening date is set for the same date as that of the new department store, which will open on Oct. 7.

  Kousaka Takeshi, chief executive of Uniqlo Taiwan Ltd, said: “We know that Taiwanese consumers are fashion savvy and well-versed with Uniqlo products. We will take a price-friendly approach, which means clothing sold here will carry similar price tags of those in Japan.”

  Fast Retailing said it aims to open 50 outlets across Taiwan within the next 10 years. It has been approached by many developers asking the company to set up stores on their property.

  Uniqlo, which ranks among Japan’s 10 most valuable brands based on Interbrand consultancy’s survey, opened its first outlet in Japan in 1984.

  The business started going strong in the 1990s with its lower-priced jeans, T-shirts, socks and sweaters, just when Japan’s economy was entering a decline, which continues to this day. Fast Retailing was listed in 1999 on the Tokyo bourse and made its first foray overseas with a Uniqlo outlet in London in 2001.

  Currently, Uniqlo is the world’s No. 5 casual wear brand. It trails Spain’s Zara, Gap from the US, H&M from Sweden and the US’ Limited Brands.

  Fast Retailing aims to make Uniqlo the world’s No. 1 brand by 2020, by increasing its total outlets — both in Japan and overseas — to 4,000 from 944 at present, Takeshi said.

  It is aiming to achieve ¥5 trillion in sales and ¥1 trillion in profit by 2020. Last year’s sales grew by 17 percent to ¥685 billion on profit of ¥49.8 billion.

  As part of efforts to enhance global competitiveness, Fast Retailing, which joins its Japanese fellow Internet shopping operator Rakuten Inc, has recently announced that they will make English their official in-house language by the end of 2012.

  According to Bloomberg, Fast Retailing founder and chief executive Tadashi Yanai has told his employees to study English for two hours every day for a year and has offered a program to acquire English skills. Fast Retailing is also working on a global system to produce 1,000 internationally competent managers every year.

  And to become No. 1, Fast Retailing said expansion in Asia is critical.

  “The Asian market gives us the largest growth opportunity and we are aggressively expanding on our network in South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Singapore,” Takeshi said, adding that Southeast Asia will be its next target.

  It launched its first outlet in Malaysia in July.
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