Fast Retailing Co., home of the Uniqlo brand, wants to ramp up the presence of its other fashion label GU in the US and Europe, as Asia’s largest apparel maker accelerates efforts to become a global retailer with ¥ 10 trillion in annual sales.
“GU has the same potential as Uniqlo,” Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Takeshi Okazaki said in an interview. “We can generate as many GU stores as there are Uniqlo ones.”
Although GU is well-known in Japan and offers clothing targeted at younger consumers at slightly lower rates than Uniqlo, it is less well-known in other key markets. Tadashi Yanai, the creator of Fast Retailing, wants to “become a true global player,” first by increasing yearly profit to ¥ 5 trillion in a few years. Part of that goal includes expanding the company’s footprint overseas.
According to Okazaki, that will include roughly ¥ 700 billion from GU. The brand has already launched its first pop-up shop in the SoHo neighbourhood of New York City in 2022, marking its first entry into the North American market.
“We want to make GU a store that’s overflowing with trendy products that are easily affordable, and that makes people feel like they want to enjoy fashion,” Okazaki said. “To achieve this, we can’t just stay within Japan.”
According to the CFO, there is a synergy between GU and Uniqlo that makes it simpler to create GU stores by using what Fast Retailing has previously accomplished with Uniqlo. According to him, the business will ensure that it satisfies global tastes while attempting to limit the variety of products it offers.
