Uniqlo: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 16:48, 19 April 2012
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2008) |
 | |
| Company type | 100% consolidated subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Fashion Retail |
| Founded | Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture 1949 |
| Headquarters | Tokyo HQ: Midtown Tower, Akasaka Kyuchome, Minato, Tokyo, Japan |
Key people | Tadashi Yanai, Chairman, President & CEO Takahiro Wakabayashi, Senior Vice President |
| Products | Clothing |
Number of employees | 30,000 (2008) |
| Parent | Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. |
| Website | www.uniqlo.co.jp |
Uniqlo Co., Ltd. (株式会社ユニクロ, Kabushiki-gaisha yunikuro) is a Japanese casual wear designer, manufacturer and retailer.
The company was originally a division of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd.. On November 1, 2005, it was restructured as a separate wholly owned subsidiary called Uniqlo Co., Ltd., which is listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Uniqlo is Japan's leading clothing retail chain in terms of both sales and profits.[citation needed] The company also operates in China, France, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
History
1949–1994: rise in Japan
Since March 1949, a Yamaguchi-based company, Ogori Shōji (which, until then, had been operating men's clothing shops called "Men's Shop OS") existed in Ube, Yamaguchi.
In May 1985, they opened a unisex casual wear store in Fukuro-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima under the name "Unique Clothing Warehouse". It was at this time that the name "Uniqlo" was born, as a contraction of "unique clothing". In September 1991, the name of the company was changed from "Ogori Shōji" to "Fast Retailing", and by April 1994, there were over 100 Uniqlo stores operating throughout Japan.
1997: "SPA" strategy
In 1997, they adopted a set of strategies from American retailing giant The Gap, known as "SPA" (Speciality-store/retailer of Private-label Apparel), meaning that they would produce their own clothing and sell it exclusively. Uniqlo had begun outsourcing their clothing manufacturing to factories in China where labour was cheap, a well-established corporate practice. Japan was in the depths of a recession at the time, and the low-cost, high-quality goods proved popular. Their advertising campaigns also proved fruitful.[1]
1998–2002: first Tokyo store and overseas expansion
In November 1998, they opened their first urban Uniqlo store in Tokyo’s trendy Harajuku district, and outlets soon spread to major cities throughout Japan. In 2001, sales turnover and gross profit reached a new peak, and with over 500 retail stores in Japan, Uniqlo decided to expand overseas, establishing Fast Retailing (Jiangsu) Apparel Co., Ltd. in China (and in 2002, opening their first Chinese Uniqlo outlet in Shanghai) and opening their first four overseas outlets in London, England.
But sales did not go well in England, and stocks in Japanese warehouses were overflowing. In 2002 and 2003, Uniqlo profits dropped sharply. In 2004, the company began joint ventures with Japanese fashion magazines, and hired such celebrities as Norika Fujiwara to appear in commercials. They teamed up with new designers, and profits rose (their London outlets also finally entered the black). The acquisition of other fashion companies by Fast Retailing also helped the struggling company get back on its feet.[citation needed]
2005–present: further expansion
2005 saw more overseas expansion, with stores opening in the United States (New York), Hong Kong (Tsim Sha Tsui) and South Korea (Seoul), their South Korean expansion being part of a joint venture with Lotte. By 2006, Uniqlo was looking into expansion into Europe after a re-launch in the UK stabilized profits. As of year-end 2005, in addition to its overseas holdings, Uniqlo had around 700 stores within Japan.[citation needed] Fast Retailing signed a design consulting contract for UNIQLO products with fashion designer Jil Sander in March 2009.[2] Shiatzy Chen has been approached by UNIQLO to produce a capsule collection of ready to wear pieces to launch in November 2010 while Asia's largest Uniqlo store outside Japan opened its doors in Kuala Lumpur in the same month.
The goal of 5 trillion yen by 2020
On September 2, 2009, Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. announced that the company would target annual group sales of 5 trillion yen (about 61.2 billion US dollars) and pretax profit from operations of 1 trillion yen (about 12.2 billion US dollars) by 2020. This means that the company is aiming to become the world’s biggest SPA with a continuous growth rate of 20% per year. The figure breaks down as 1 trillion yen from Uniqlo’s Japan business, 3 trillion yen from its international business, and 1 trillion yen from Japan-related and global brand business. The company’s international business target of 3 trillion yen breaks down as 1 trillion yen in China, 1 trillion yen in other Asian countries and 1 trillion yen in Europe and the United States.[3]
Olympic and J. League uniforms
Uniqlo also furnished the uniforms for Japan's Olympic athletes in the 1998, 2002, and 2004 Olympic Games, as well as the uniforms for J.League's Thespa Kusatsu team.
United States
In November 2006, Uniqlo opened its first flagship store in the SoHo fashion district of Manhattan, New York City. New fashion designers have joined the store's team to boost and rebirth fashion concepts catering to the U.S. market.[4] The opening of the Manhattan store was followed in September 2007 by the closing of Uniqlo's three New Jersey locations, as well as four New York locations, leaving the count of North American stores at one.[5] In October 2011, Uniqlo opened its second and third flagship locations on Fifth Avenue and 34th Street near Herald Square in New York City.[6]
Uniqlo has expressed a desire to open a store in every major U.S. city, and up to 200 stores in the country.[7]
France
In December 2007, Uniqlo opened its first store in France in La Défense. On October 1, 2009, a flagship store opened in Paris close to the Opéra.
Singapore
Uniqlo opened three stores in Singapore in 2009 as part of a franchise owned by Wing Tai Holdings.
- Tampines One (Open: 9 April 2009)[8]
- ION Orchard (Open: 7 August 2009)
- 313@Somerset (Open: 3 December 2009)
- VivoCity (Open: 29 April 2011)
- Causeway Point (Open: 13 May 2011)
Malaysia
Uniqlo made their first flagship debut in Malaysia at Fahrenheit 88, Kuala Lumpur in August in a 55:45 joint venture between Fast Retaling Ltd and DNP Holdings in 4 November 2010. It is the largest Uniqlo store in Asia (apart from Japan), spanning 3 floors. A second outlet is located in Suria KLCC, which opened in 5 May 2011. The third outlet was opened in 4 November 2011, at Old Wing 1 Utama Shopping Centre. after 1 year successful business run in Fahrenheit 88, Jalan Bukit Bintang. Coming Soon To Pulau Pinang, Sabah, Sarawak, Johor And More.
Taiwan
Uniqlo opened in Taipei on October 7, 2010.[9]
Thailand
Uniqlo opened it's first branch at CentralWorld shopping center on 9 September 2011. The store, located in Central World, is UNIQLO's largest in Southeast Asia, with retail space of approximately 2,700 square meters.[10]
Record sales at Seoul
In November 2011, Uniqlo generated more than 2 billion won ($1.7 million) in one day’s sales on November 11 when it opened Asia’s largest flagship store in central Seoul.
The sales figure was the highest ever set by a fashion outlet in Korea, industry sources said Thursday.[11]
The previous record was 460 million won set by French luxury brand Chanel last year when it opened a new store in southern Seoul.
2011 Bungeishunjū allegations and lawsuit
In May 2011, shūkanshi Shukan Bunshun published a story alleging that Uniqlo had forced employees at its stores and factories in China to work long hours for little pay. In response, Uniqlo sued the weekly's publisher, Bungeishunjū, for ¥220 million for defamation. The lawsuit is pending.[12]
Store count
| Location | Store number |
|---|---|
| Japan | 793 (99 in Tokyo) |
| China | 54[13] |
| South Korea | 61 (20 in Seoul) |
| United Kingdom | 16 (15 in Greater London 1 in Bluewater – Kent)[14] |
| Hong Kong | 16[15] |
| Taiwan | 14[16] |
| Singapore | 5 |
| Russia | 3 |
| Malaysia | 3[17] |
| France | 2 |
| United States | 3 (all in Manhattan)[18] |
| Thailand | 3 (first branch opened on 9 September 2011 at CentralWorld shopping complex and second branch opened on 21 October 2011 at CentralPlaza Ladprao and at CentralPlaza Grand Rama 9 on december 2011) |
| Philippines | 1 (first branch opens at the SM Mall of Asia in June 2012) |
Projects
Designers Innovation Project
The Uniqlo Designers Invitation Project saw the invitation of women's wear designers Phillip Lim, Alice Roi, Tina Lutz and Marcia Patmos of Lutz & Patmos, Kino, and GVGV; and men’s wear designers Halb, Satoru Tanaka, and Alexandre Plokhov of Cloak to each design capsule collections of eight looks for Spring/Summer 2007.
4 additional designers/labels were asked for the 2009 Designers Invitation Project. Women's wear saw boutique owner Steven Alan and Shipley & Halmos, while men's wear include Opening Ceremony and Gilded Age.
UT Project
The UT Project was launched on April 28, 2007 in Harajuku, Tokyo with the launch of a new innovative store concept designed by Uniqlo creative director Kashiwa Sato of a futuristic convenience store for t-shirts. Each t-shirt style is displayed on forms in stainless steel display cases, with individual t-shirts packaged in clear plastic canisters resembling tennis ball cans. The t-shirts are stored on open shelves, making the shopping experience virtually self-service.
In celebration of the opening of the UT store, Uniqlo launched the UT Project, a limited-edition collection of t-shirts designed by renowned artists, designers, photographers and musicians including Terry Richardson, Nobuyoshi Araki, Bjorn Copeland of Black Dice, Kim Jones, Peter Saville, Gareth Pugh and many more. There are approximately 1,000 unique t-shirt styles being delivered each year as part of the UT Project from these artists as well as other collaborative efforts such as ECM Records and the Evolution Store in SoHo, NY. The t-shirts will be available at the UT store and Uniqlo stores worldwide, with nearly 100 new styles being introduced to the New York Global Flagship Store each month. On February 5, 825 UNIQLO stores across Japan began retailing special Big Bang T-shirts in celebration of the group’s upcoming tour. Big Bang (Korean boy band) has set an amazing record by selling out all their UNIQLO T-shirts within 15 minutes after they went on sale. The brand boasted 10 different designs for the collaboration, and according to the company, every single Big Bang item was sold out within 15 minutes of the stores’ opening. As of the 6th, fans who were unable to purchase the shirts have been expressing their disappointment by uploading pictures of empty shelves.
Uniqlock Project
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2009) |
Uniqlock, a web-based Flash widget as well as downloadable screensaver combination of Music-Dance-Clock, was launched on June 15, 2007. Season 1[19] features four girls auditioned from youtube wearing Uniqlo's 20 color dry polo shirt, dancing freestyles similar to ballet , with background music composed by Fantastic Plastic Machine. Blog-parts were Flash components provided so that Uniqlock can be inserted into individual blog pages. Uniqlock soon gained popularity, as shown in its World Uniqlock page. Until November 2008 there were up to 191 million clicks from over 200 countries, with up to 40,000 blog-parts in 88 countries. Uniqlock Season 2,[20] launched in November 2007, featured Cashemere Knits, with the same dancers, dance style, as well background. The movie quality was improved, and dancers would appear to be asleep if the time in the specified region is nighttime. Also in each hour special clips would be shown instead; Season 2 features 2 men playing music, doing clean up chores. In season 3[21] 20 color t-shirt promotion, 4 new dancers were introduced in addition to the original 4, switched by hour. On August 31, 2009, Season Six premiered in the new setting of Paris, France. The clock's time was also changed to display the time in Paris.
References
- ^ Nagata, Kazuaki, "Choice, chic, cheap — no one feels fleeced", Japan Times, November 17, 2009, p. 3.
- ^ 2009 | FAST RETAILING CO., LTD. Fastretailing.com (2010-12-20). Retrieved on 2011-02-16.
- ^ Kensuke Kojima (2011). Uniqlo Syndrome. Toyo Keizai Shinpo Sha. ISBN 4492761918 Tenkai Japan. ASIN: B004PYDPOK.
- ^ Basic Chic From Japan. But Will It Sell?, New York Times, 10 November 2006
- ^ News Releases. UNIQLO (2007-09-10). Retrieved on 2011-02-16.
- ^ http://www.uniqlo.com/us/corp/pressrelease/2011/09/uniqlo_announces_october_openi.html
- ^ http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/japan-uniqlo-next-great-american-retailer-134422231.html
- ^ First Uniqlo Singapore outlet to open on Thursday. Channel NewsAsia (2009-04-06). Retrieved on 2011-02-16.
- ^ プレスリリース – UNIQLO ユニクロ. Uniqlo.com. Retrieved on 2011-02-16.
- ^ http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/group/news/1105101700.html
- ^ http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20111117000747
- ^ Kyodo News, "Uniqlo takes Bungeishunju to court for libel", Japan Times, 5 June 2011, p. 2.
- ^ – Uniqlo's China website refers to 54 stores in June 2010.
- ^ – Uniqlo's UK website refers to 14 stores in April 2009.
- ^ Uniqlo Hong Kong store locator
- ^ Taiwan store locator
- ^ Uniqlo Malaysia Web page
- ^ STORES – Uniqlo.com(three New Jersey stores were closed on or around September 102007 Uniqlo press release
- ^ Uniqlock. Uniqlo.jp. Retrieved on 2011-02-16.
- ^ Uniqlock. Uniqlo.jp. Retrieved on 2011-02-16.
- ^ Uniqlock. Uniqlo.jp. Retrieved on 2011-02-16.
External links
