Posts Tagged ‘uniqlo’

Uniqlo to buy the Gap?

Amy Odell of NY Mag reports that Uniqlo owner Tadashi Yanai might buy the Gap:

Yanai is trying to turn Fast Retailing into the biggest clothing manufacturer and retailer in the world. The easiest way for him to do this by targeting the U.S. market is not to open a million new Uniqlo stores — that would be too much of a pain. So he plans to take a shortcut and simply buy a large chain. Insiders speculate that Gap is that chain.

[hat tip to Marxy]

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Uniqlo expanding into Russia & India

Clothing store chain Uniqlo has announced plans to build new stores in Russia, India, and Singapore:

Fast Retailing Co. said it hoped to open a store in Russia as soon as possible as part of a global expansion that will also see it open the doors to the first Uniqlo outlet in Singapore in the first half of 2009.

The company is eyeing a foray into India while expanding in Vietnam and setting up an office in Bangladesh to oversee production there.

Fast Retailing founder and president Tadashi Yanai said the balance of power in the global economy was shifting to fast-growing developing economies such as China and India.

Yanai did not seem afraid of Uniqlo’s main international rival, H&M:

“They are not a threat to us,” Otoma said, adding that H&M’s arrival in Japan would help stimulate Japan’s sluggish clothing market.