About FAST RETAIL-DRS Company

In addition to the core business UNIQLO (Uniqlo), the Group also owns a number of brands, including GU, Theory, Comptoir des Cotonniers, Princesse Tam.tam, and J Brand. The main brand, UNIQLO, opened its first store in 1984, and developed a chain operation centered around suburban “roadside stores” (that is, stores located next to traffic arteries). In 1998, while UNIQLO established a branch in the Qianjin Metropolitan Center, it also launched a fleece (Fleece) sales campaign in due course, setting off a UNIQLO craze all over Japan. Since then, stores have been opened in large shopping malls, and global flagship stores and prosperous global stores have also been set up in bustling metropolitan areas such as Ginza, Shinjuku, and Osaka. UNIQLO uses the SPA (private label clothing specialty retailer) business model to provide high-quality casual clothing at reasonable prices, from product planning, material development, material procurement, production, and transportation to retail. UNIQLO also has unique products that cannot be imitated by any other company, and has successfully obtained 6.5% ※ of the Japanese apparel market share. Since then, UNIQLO's business growth focus has gradually moved overseas, and in September 2001, it opened its first overseas branch in the UK. As of the end of August 2017, the total number of stores in Japan and 1,089 overseas was 831 and 1,089, respectively, and overseas sales accounted for 47% of UNIQLO's overall sales. In particular, the company's business continued to grow rapidly by opening stores in the Greater China region (mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan), South Korea, and other Southeast Asian countries. Established in 2006, GU has achieved success in the Japanese market with its low price and rich fashion brand positioning. By the end of August 2017, the number of stores had expanded to 372, and sales in 2017 had surpassed 100 billion yen. Like UNIQLO, GU has developed its own unique products through the SPA business model and gradually developed into highly competitive brands.