86 632
Fashion Jobs
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, University Park Mall - Part Time
Permanent · MISHAWAKA
MACY'S
Asset Protection Captain, Interstate - Full Time
Permanent · RAMSEY
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Ventura Pacific View - Part Time
Permanent · VENTURA
MACY'S
Asset Protection Detective, South Beach - Full Time
Permanent · MIAMI BEACH
MACY'S
Asset Protection Security Guard, Garden State Park - Full Time
Permanent · CHERRY HILL
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, White Oaks - Part Time
Permanent · SPRINGFIELD
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills - Part Time
Permanent · TARENTUM
MACY'S
Asset Protection Captain, Orland Square - Full Time
Permanent · ORLAND PARK
MACY'S
Asset Protection Security Guard, Queens Center - Part Time
Permanent · NEW YORK
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Village at Fairview - Part Time
Permanent · FAIRVIEW
MACY'S
Asset Protection Detective, Marley Station - Part Time
Permanent · GLEN BURNIE
MACY'S
Asset Protection Security Guard, Broadcasting Square - Part Time
Permanent · WYOMISSING
MACY'S
Asset Protection Security Guard, Winter Garden Village - Part Time
Permanent · WINTER GARDEN
MACY'S
Manager, Asset Protection
Permanent · SPRINGFIELD
MACY'S
Asset Protection Security Guard, Centerton Square - Part Time
Permanent · MOUNT LAUREL TOWNSHIP
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Westland - Part Time
Permanent · HIALEAH
MACY'S
Asset Protection Security Guard, Bloomingdale Court - Part Time
Permanent · BLOOMINGDALE
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Cumberland Mall - Full Time
Permanent · ATLANTA
MACY'S
Asset Protection Security Guard, Broadcasting Square - Full Time
Permanent · WYOMISSING
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Riverpark - Part Time
Permanent · FRESNO
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Shoppes at Buckland Hills - Part Time
Permanent · MANCHESTER
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Empire - Part Time
Permanent · SIOUX FALLS
By
Reuters
Published
Sep 18, 2014
Reading time
2 minutes
Download
Download the article
Print
Text size

Uniqlo expects profit at US stores in 'couple of years'

By
Reuters
Published
Sep 18, 2014

Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo aims to turn a profit at its small but expanding U.S. network of stores within the next couple of years, the company's top U.S. executive, Larry Meyer, said.


Well known in its home country for its inexpensive but trendy down jackets, jeans and undergarments, Uniqlo - short for "Unique Clothing" - is a relative newcomer in the United States.

It opened its first flagship store in New York City's chic Soho neighborhood in 2006. With the addition this week of a new location in Wayne, New Jersey, the company - owned by the world's fourth-largest fashion retailer, Fast Retailing Co - now operates 26 U.S. stores.

And the company plans to boost that number by 50 percent to 39 outlets by mid-November, Meyer, chief executive officer of Uniqlo USA, told Reuters.

Still, Uniqlo's ambitious roll-out plan has yet to earn a profit in the U.S., at least in part because of high opening costs.

"We are investing in building our brand and building stores, that includes building a workforce that is capable of handling the road we are putting in place," Meyer said.

He was optimistic that the U.S. operation was "on the way to getting (profitable) within the next couple of years."

Fast Retailing has provided few details on this topic, and has said for the past few years merely that the U.S. business would emerge from the red "soon."

The retailer plans to have 200 Uniqlo stores in the United States by 2020, part of a broader push to become the world's top fashion retailer. Its competitors include Spain's Inditex, which owns the Zara chain, Sweden's Hennes & Mauritz, known as H&M, and Gap Stores Inc..

Fast Retailing's website said there were more than 1,400 Uniqlo locations worldwide, including more than 850 in Japan and more than 300 in China.

After mid-November, when the company will have 39 outlets in the U.S., the chain intends to open 10 to 15 locations a year, Meyer said.

"We will be building revenue consistent with what 200 stores would generate," Meyer said.

He said that some new stores will have the bigger flagship format and that e-commerce would make a contribution.

Building U.S. brand awareness was a big challenge, Meyer said, and sizing was another sticky issue. 

Uniqlo has had to adjust its sizing by “scaling up” to fit the U.S. market, meaning a “medium” jacket in a Tokyo store may be a “small” in New York. The company is still looking into all sizing technology, he said.

In the short term, Uniqlo plans to open additional locations in Boston and Los Angeles next spring, and its first Chicago store next fall.

 

© Thomson Reuters 2024 All rights reserved.