Fast Retailing Co, Japan’s biggest clothing retailer, yesterday said it planned to open as many as 100 outlets throughout Taiwan to sell its popular Uniqlo line of casual wear as part of its vision to become the world’s top fashion brand by 2020.
This figure is double its goal set in September last year to establish 50 stores in Taiwan over a 10-year span.
Given the success of its first and only outlet in Taiwan, Uniqlo Taiwan Ltd’s CEO Kousaka Takeshi told reporters it was confident of bringing more varieties of the affordable fashion wear to Taiwanese households.
That outlet opened in October last year at the Uni-President Hankyu Department Store (統一阪急百貨) in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義).
Six more stores will be launched from September to December at Ming Yao Department Store (明曜百貨), Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store’s (新光三越) Nanjing West Road location, the Breeze Center (微風廣場), Pacific Sogo Department Store’s (太平洋崇光百貨) Tienmu location, Taipei Railway Station and Miramar Entertainment Park (美麗華百樂園), the company said.
The Ming Yao store will be Uniqlo’s sixth global flagship store and will span three floors, totaling 1,100 ping (3,635m2).
Uniqlo is the world’s No. 5 casual wear brand in terms of revenue. It trails Zara SA from Spain, The Gap Inc from the US, H&M AB from Sweden and Limited Brands from the US.
Fast Retailing aims to make Uniqlo the world’s No. 1 brand by 2020. To that end, it aims to increase the total number of outlets — both in Japan and overseas — to 4,000, and it forecasts sales of ￥5 trillion (US$63 billion), with ￥1 trillion in profit.
Inditex, the Spanish owner of Zara, last month announced plans to expand to Taiwan, South Africa and Peru.
The world’s largest fashion chain opened 12 stores a week in the three months prior to the end of April and said it planned to open hundreds more as it strives to bring its “fast fashion” clothes to the world.
The company, which started with a single store in La Coruna, Spain, in 1975, now operates 5,154 shops in 78 countries and has made its founder, Amancio Ortega, Spain’s richest man.
Taipei 101 has confirmed that Taiwan’s first Zara outlet will open there by December.
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