The name Uniqlo comes from joining the words for “unique” and “clothing.” The chain’s basic concept is “LifeWear,” or everyday clothing. Uniqlo parent
Q: What were the biggest challenges over the past 40 years?
A: Actually 40 years, upon reflection, went by so fast they feel more like three years. You know what they say in
When we became No. 2 or No. 3 in Japan’s casual wear, and being No. 1 was right within reach, we became a listed company in 1994. That was followed by our fleece boom, which doubled our revenue in one year to
I’d been thinking about going global when our revenue reached
Instead, we got totally knocked out.
We opened 21 outlets in a year and a half, but had to close 16 of them, leaving just five. We didn’t succeed as we had hoped. This is not an easy job. It’s very tough.
But these days, our sales are strongest in
Q: What are some of the sustainability and other key issues you have faced over the years?
A: We make clothes that last a long time. Not just clothes that last for one season.
The cashmere sweater I’m wearing today is
We’ve done various sustainability efforts, and we talk only about what we have really achieved.
Sustainability is crucial to our operations. And we’ve done just about everything — recycling, employing the disabled, support for refugees.
The prices may be cheaper at
Q: What is behind Uniqlo’s success and what resonated with global buyers?
A: When we say Uniqlo is “made for all,” one might imagine products for the masses, like what’s at a
But what we mean is a high-quality product that appeals to all people, including the extremely rich, not only those with sophisticated taste and intelligence, but also people who don’t know that much about clothes, and the design is fine-tuned, the material fine quality, and sustainability concerns have been addressed.
We were first a retailer, then a manufacturer-cum-retailer. Now we are a digital consumer retailer. That is why we are successful. If we had stayed the same, then we can’t hope to succeed.
Being a digital consumer retail company means we utilize information at a high level to shape the way we do our work. We gain information about our customers, the workers at the store, the market, all that information.
Changing daily is the only way we can hope for stable growth. The world is changing every day.
Q: Are you confident you can keep it up another 40 years?
A: Of course. We’ve been preparing to reach
We are just getting started, and we are going to keep growing. There is more potential for growth in
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