Uniqlo to open 50 stores in 3 years

MANILA, Philippines - Japan’s Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. said it plans to roll out 50 Uniqlo stores in the country within three years to jumpstart its expansion to unconquered countries in Asia.

The holding company considers the Philippines as a strategic location for expansion activities in the ASEAN region which is essential to its target of being the No. 1 fast fashion retailer in the world by 2010.

“The Philippine market is very important to us… We consider that the Philippines will open our market to other countries in Asia,” said Fast Retailing Philippines CEO Katsumi Kubota.

He said the initial phase of expansion will be concentrated in Metro Manila and eventually to other cities.

“We have a long term plan for the Philippines,” said Kubota.

He also said the innate hospitality of Filipinos is a “key element” in the consideration to make the Philippines as a launch pad for the brand’s expansion in the region.

Fast Retailing Philippines launched yesterday its first Uniqlo store in the country at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City. The store will be open to the public on June 15.

The store occupies 1,550 square meters of floor space and offers apparel for men, women and children.

Uniqlo is one the five fast-fashion brands owned by Fast Retailing along with Comptoir des Cotonniers, g.u., Princesse Tam Tam and Theory.

There are currently around 1,000 Uniqlo stores worldwide, 850 of which are in Japan and 250 scattered in 200 countries worldwide.

The first Uniqlo store was opened in Japan in 1984 and began expansion into foreign markets in 1991.

Uniqlo was brought to the Philippines through a joint venture between Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. and SM Retail Inc. to form Fast Retailing Philippines Inc. which will oversee the operation of the first Uniqlo store in the country and others that may also be established.

Executives earlier said that Fast Retailing Philippines has a paid-up capital of P400 million, equivalent to ¥720 million. Kubota also earlier said that investments in the first Uniqlo store in the Philippines would entail “a few million dollars a year.”

Fast Retailing Co. Ltd chairman and CEO Tadashi Yanai, who visited the country for the store opening, said it took Uniqlo a while to reach the Philippines because of geographical limitations.

“The Philippines is still far compared to China and other countries (where the brand is present),” he said through an interpreter.

Uniqlo currently has 57,000 employees worldwide. Yanai did not disclose how many workers will be employed by the company in the Philippines during its expansion.

“We want to produce as much employment as we can,” he said.