Uniqlo North America Holds Key to Fast Retailing’s Growth in the West
Uniqlo North America wields major influence in Fast Retailing’s expansion plans for the Western markets.
The company’s LifeWear brand philosophy has helped grow its steady customer base in all markets, particularly in North America where Uniqlo plans to open more than 20 new stores in the U.S. and Canada in 2024. And while Uniqlo North America—New York is its global headquarters—operates in the background, it has a proactive role in driving new opportunities for business while keeping Uniqlo’s mission of LifeWear at the forefront. One source who knows Uniqlo well said the operation in New York looks at every piece of the business holistically from a western-market lens, whether that’s product-creation or research and development, merchandising and marketing.
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LifeWear is the company’s universal approach to creating functional, comfortable apparel. While the company does tailor its offerings to better serve the lifestyles of local markets, the mainstay across all territories remains high-quality, everyday apparel. The source said North America is the company’s main Western market, hence the focus on being “number one in North America” before it can think about succeeding globally in the West.
“One of the reasons for our growth in the North America is our focus on branding and reaching out to customers to showcase our unique offerings. In addition, we continue to ask ourselves why we exist in this market to ensure we can do our very best to provide superior products at valuable price for its quality and services to our customers,” Masahiko Nakasuji, Fast Retailing Group executive officer and Uniqlo North America head of marketing.
Nakasuji said Uniqlo has grown a steady customer base in North America since the first store opening in the U.S. in 2005. “Throughout that time, we have also established our brand concept, called LifeWear, together with innovating iconic hero products, improving store operations and developing local talent. [W]e earned strong brand trust amongst our customers, while accelerating new customer growth through store expansion. As more of our core essential products became known and loved, we’ve built repeat customers on top of new customers, giving us strong momentum to grow in this market.”
Key essentials include HEATTECH base layers for warmth, AIRism base layers to keep cool, ultra light down outerwear, bra tops and Supima cotton T-shirts. The retailer also has included designer collaborations, such as with Clare Waight Keller—the 34-piece Uniqlo: C collection launched for Autumn-Winter 2023—and Christophe Lemaire, which Nakasuji said have been well received by its North American customers.
“We have built strong momentum in North America, posting our first year of profitability in 2022, but have huge opportunity for further growth in comparison to other markets where brand penetration is much higher,” Nakasuji said. “As we continue to expand our presence, we’ll build awareness, and introduce ourselves to many consumers who have not yet tried our products.”
Uniqlo North America in 2022 opened an on-site repair service at its New York City flagship in SoHo. The hub, called Re.Uniqlo Repair Studio, can replace shirt buttons, mend seam rips and patch holes, among other services at a cost of $5. The studio is part of the Re.Uniqlo program, which promotes a circular apparel system hallmarked by the four Rs: reduce, replace, re-use and recyle.
Fast Retailing first disclosed Uniqlo’s store opening plans in October when the company posted full year results, which saw profits up 8.4 percent to 296.2 billion yen ($1.98 billion) on a total revenue gain of 20.2 percent to 2.767 trillion yen ($18.49 billion).
Uniqlo currently operates 72 stores across the U.S. and Canada, where it first opened doors in 2016. With the 20-plus doors slated to open in 2024, Uniqlo will operate a minimum of 92 locations by the end of 2024, using present projections.
One of those new locations will be in Providence, R.I., in Spring 2024, a new market for the retailer. Other new U.S.-based locations to open in the same period in existing markets include: Tacoma Mall, Tacoma, Wash.; Alderwood Mall, Lynnwood, Wash.; South Shore Plaza, Braintree, Mass., and Staten Island Mall, Staten Island, New York.
The company’s overall goal is to reach 200 stores in North America by 2027.
