Recently, UNIQLO announced that its first global flagship store in Beijing will open in November this year and will be located in Sanlitun, a well-known fashion landmark in Beijing. It is reported that this is the third global flagship store opened by Uniqlo in China in eight years. The first two are located in Shanghai and Shenzhen.
It is understood that UNIQLO Beijing Sanlitun global flagship store is located in Sanlitun West District, spanning three floors and with an operating area of more than 2,000 square meters. As one of Beijing’s bustling business districts, Sanlitun is an important community where young people live and shop, and is also a gathering place for foreign tourists. Uniqlo’s choice to set up a flagship store here can not only rely on strong customer flow for sales, but also help export brand culture.
Public information shows that Uniqlo is a company mainly selling clothing. It was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Japan. Refer to the model of American retail group GAP in terms of business strategy.
Since entering the Chinese market in 2002, UNIQLO has maintained a rapid expansion trend. As of the end of February 2021, the total number of UNIQLO stores in China has reached 900, which is higher than the total number of 807 stores in Japan.
The Chinese market is also the overseas market that contributes the most to Uniqlo’s performance. Affected by the epidemic last year, Uniqlo’s sales in China have declined, but overall, the Chinese market is still the core strength of Uniqlo’s overseas market. According to Fast Retailing Group’s 2020 fiscal year performance report, the total annual revenue in the Chinese market was 455.9 billion yen (approximately RMB 28.963 billion), a year-on-year decrease of 9.3%, accounting for 54.02% of the brand’s overall overseas market.
Except for the Chinese market, Uniqlo’s development in other countries is not smooth.
According to Xinhua News Agency, in early July 2019, Japan began to restrict the export of three key raw materials for the semiconductor industry to South Korea. On March 28, South Korea was officially removed from Japan’s trade “white list.” After Japan’s restrictive measures were implemented, Korean people launched a boycott movement against Japanese goods.
Affected by the double impact of the Korean people’s boycott of Japanese goods and the new crown epidemic, UNIQLO announced that it will officially close its global flagship store in Myeongdong, Seoul, South Korea on January 31, 2021. It is reported that the store covers an area of 3966 square meters and is the company’s sixth flagship store in the world. It is also the second largest store in the world after the global flagship store in New York so far. Afterwards, Uniqlo also plans to close 8 stores including the Lotte store in Jung-gu, Seoul.
In addition, on August 1 this year, due to the spread of the epidemic that led to a decrease in the number of tourists to Japan, UNIQLO closed its “UNIQLO Shinsaibashi Store” in Osaka City. It is reported that the store opened in October 2010 and is Uniqlo’s first “global flagship store” in Japan.
It can be seen that as the most populous country and a potential consumer country, the Chinese market has always been a top priority for UNIQLO. Tadashi Yanai, president of Fast Retailing Group and founder of Uniqlo, once said in an interview that based on China’s population, Uniqlo is expected to open 3,000 stores. </p
