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▼ Uniqlo Eyes Expansion Into India
- Category:Shopping
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Bloomberg) — Fast Retailing Co., operator of the Uniqlo casual-wear brand, has applied to open stores in India as Asia’s largest clothing chain increases its reliance on overseas markets.
The Japanese company submitted an application on Nov. 21 seeking government approval to do business in the country under the Uniqlo brand name, according to a filing on India’s Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion website. “India is a market with great potential,” Pei-Chi Tung, a spokeswoman for Fast Retailing, said in an email.
“At the moment, we are awaiting word from the government, and we will be able to discuss potential future steps at a later date.”
Fast Retailing, which recently forecast that international sales for its Uniqlo chain will exceed those in Japan this fiscal year for the first time, has been pushing to expand overseas as wages languish and the population ages at home.
The brand’s international store count surpassed the number of locations in Japan two years ago.
The company has expressed an interest in entering India since at least 2011. The move would follow Inditex SA’s Zara and Hennes & Mauritz AB in an apparel market that’s forecast by Euromonitor International to grow 29 percent to 3.76 trillion rupees ($58 billion) by 2021. Inditex opened a flagship Zara shop in Mumbai in May, which has had a strong reception, Chief Executive Officer Pablo Isla said in September. It recently started online sales in India.
The Japanese company submitted an application on Nov. 21 seeking government approval to do business in the country under the Uniqlo brand name, according to a filing on India’s Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion website. “India is a market with great potential,” Pei-Chi Tung, a spokeswoman for Fast Retailing, said in an email.
“At the moment, we are awaiting word from the government, and we will be able to discuss potential future steps at a later date.”
Fast Retailing, which recently forecast that international sales for its Uniqlo chain will exceed those in Japan this fiscal year for the first time, has been pushing to expand overseas as wages languish and the population ages at home.
The brand’s international store count surpassed the number of locations in Japan two years ago.
The company has expressed an interest in entering India since at least 2011. The move would follow Inditex SA’s Zara and Hennes & Mauritz AB in an apparel market that’s forecast by Euromonitor International to grow 29 percent to 3.76 trillion rupees ($58 billion) by 2021. Inditex opened a flagship Zara shop in Mumbai in May, which has had a strong reception, Chief Executive Officer Pablo Isla said in September. It recently started online sales in India.
- November 27, 2017
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