UNIQLO

UNIQLO ユニクロ (Yunikuro) is a Tokyo fashion and clothing company. It is a fast growing company, one of the five biggest specialty fashion retailers in the world.^[1] The company makes T-shirts, jeans, and casual wear for both women and men. It is owned by Fast Retailing, a Yamaguchi based company.

UNIQLO Co., Ltd.

Industry	Fashion Retail
Founded	Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture 1949
Headquarters	Tokyo HQ: Midtown Tower, Akasaka Kyuchome, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Products	Clothing
Number of employees	30,000 (2008)
Parent	Fast Retailing Co., Ltd.
Website	Uniqlo.co.jp

Locations

UNIQLO has locations in 25 countries. The majority of shops and primary market is Japan. Shops are also in: Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Vietnam, India, USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Denmark and Italy.^[2]

Countries with UNIQLO Stores^[3]

Country	Cities
Australia	Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney
Belgium	Antwerp, Brussels
Canada	Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver
Denmark	Copenhagen
France	Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Annecy, Bordeaux, Lille, Montpellier, Nantes, Nice, Rennes, Strasbourg, Toulouse
Germany	Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart
India	Delhi, Mumbai
Indonesia	Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Denpasar
Italy	Milan, Rome
Luxembourg	Luxembourg City
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Johor Bahru
Netherlands	Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague
Poland	Warsaw
Spain	Barcelona, Madrid
Sweden	Stockholm, Gothenburg
Thailand	Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket
United Kingdom	London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Oxford
United States	Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington D.C.

History

The company began in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan in 1949. It has grown steadily since then. In 1984, Fast Retailing opened the first UNIQLO shop in nearby Hiroshima Prefecture. Since then it opened an online business in 2000. It then became international with shops in London (2001); Shanghai (2002); then, Korea, the US in the SoHo fashion district of Manhattan in New York, and Hong Kong (2005). Since then it expanded into France (2007), Singapore (2009), and Russia (2010). Recently, on 27th September, they opened "BICQLO", which is a collaboration shop with Bic Camera.(2012)^[4]

Product

One of UNIQLO’s main product is HEATTECH. These clothes are sold in many countries.^[5] It keeps people warm, so it is useful in winter. It is thin and comfortable, so people can wear many layers of clothing easily. Also it has some good functions: it keeps in heat, and dries quickly. HEATTECH material has odor control, is anti-static, and stretches. Moreover, there are a variety of HEATTECH products, including: T-shirts, turtlenecks, underwear, leggings, and socks.^[6] Furthermore, heattech jeans have gotten attention for keeping people warm.^[7]

Hiring

UNIQLO announced that it is changing the way it hires new workers. Large companies in Japan usually hire new college graduates once a year. UNIQLO is changing to hiring people all through the year. They are also open to hiring people who have not yet graduated, people who graduated several years ago, and people with other jobs. UNIQLO is also a gateway to Japanese products in many countries.