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The United Nations of Uniqlo

economist.com

1–10 of 95 posts

Re: The United Nations of Uniqlo

#3
> The American market has proved harder to crack. The 56 Uniqlo stores in America fall far short of Yanai’s plan, in 2012, to open 200 there. They still operate at a loss.

Huh, that's surprising -- the stores I've been to are always pretty packed.

The whole "invisibility" thing throughout the article rings true for me -- I like Uniqlo (it's more or less the only place I shop for clothes now) because the quality is usually good, especially for the price, and most of the designs are nice and plain. The last thing I want my clothes to do for me is make me stand out.

Re: The United Nations of Uniqlo

#4
I have stumbled on Uniqlo while around Tokyo. I was surprised how cheap it is, minimalist the styles were, and how very good the material/quality is. I have been mainly purchasing from Celio, Mango, H&M (ie: the European brands). My experience is that the clothes will last less than a year before becoming too washed to be wear. Clothes I bought from Uniqlo still look very good now 1.5 year later. Looks like they'll last for a couple more years.

I'm surprised Uniqlo didn't take over the world in fashion. But EU/US buyers might not be careful enough to care about quality and just focus on how it looks like today.

Re: The United Nations of Uniqlo

#5

> The American market has proved harder to crack. The 56 Uniqlo stores in America fall far short of Yanai’s plan, in 2012, to open 200 there. They still operate at a loss. Huh, that's surprising -- the stores I've been to are always pretty packed. The whole "invisibility" thing throughout the article rings true for me -- I like Uniqlo (it's more or less the only place I shop for clothes now) because the quality is us…

East Asian from Singapore here. Maybe it is due to the available Uniqlo available size and styles. I seldom buy American brand due to the shape. It is too long for me and lack of "kawaii" ness of the design

Re: The United Nations of Uniqlo

#6
What H&M had, Zara somewhat still has, but Uniqlo doesnt have is the must buy or might not see it again.

Uniqlo does a good business selling decent quality clothes at a decent price that are modern classics.

Re: The United Nations of Uniqlo

#7
post #6

What H&M had, Zara somewhat still has, but Uniqlo doesnt have is the must buy or might not see it again. Uniqlo does a good business selling decent quality clothes at a decent price that are modern classics.

You can't sell in markets where you don't have stores and people don't know your brand. I was delighted when I visited a Uniqlo store in Barcelona, but there isn't one anywhere near me.

I just read somewhere that their plan from 2017-2020 is to increase the number of stores in Europe from 50 to 100.

For comparison H&M has 100 stores in Belgium alone.

Re: The United Nations of Uniqlo

#8
Love the clothes Hate the work culture.

I have a few friends who work for Uniqlo on the e-commerce team in the US. They all tell me that the work culture is horrible. It’s very Japanese.

- Long unproductive hours gets your bosses appreciation.

- Very sexist and male dominated.

- They hate working remote even when it was absolutely necessary for the employee.

- No respect for maternity related issues.

Any company that would like to see itself become multinational has to adapt to local cultures

Re: The United Nations of Uniqlo

#9
post #4

I have stumbled on Uniqlo while around Tokyo. I was surprised how cheap it is, minimalist the styles were, and how very good the material/quality is. I have been mainly purchasing from Celio, Mango, H&M (ie: the European brands). My experience is that the clothes will last less than a year before becoming too washed to be wear. Clothes I bought from Uniqlo still look very good now 1.5 year later. Looks like they'll l…

The quality is definitly on the better side but the brand has the same ethical issues as H&M and others. There are other 'basic' brands like ASKET that may be a bit more expensive, but don't have these problems in their supply chain.

Re: The United Nations of Uniqlo

#10
post #4

I have stumbled on Uniqlo while around Tokyo. I was surprised how cheap it is, minimalist the styles were, and how very good the material/quality is. I have been mainly purchasing from Celio, Mango, H&M (ie: the European brands). My experience is that the clothes will last less than a year before becoming too washed to be wear. Clothes I bought from Uniqlo still look very good now 1.5 year later. Looks like they'll l…

I live in the UK and I absolutely love Uniqlo. Previously I had to wait until a visit to London but now there are more stores in the UK. The quality is amazing and here in the UK they even do free alterations depending on the price of the item.
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