优衣库计划未来十年在日本将旗舰店增至约20家

TOKYO -- In an era when an outfit is just a click away, casual clothing chain Uniqlo is betting heavily on the value of physical stores at home in Japan.
Uniqlo has decided to overhaul its store strategy in Japan by doubling the number of flagship locations to roughly 20 within the next decade. This pivot stems from a lesson about flagship stores that Tadashi Yanai, chairman and CEO of parent Fast Retailing, learned nearly three decades ago.
In early August 1998, when Yanai was on vacation with his family in Barcelona, he noticed people walking the streets holding paper bags with the word "Zara" written on them. Curious about what kind of clothes they sold, he visited a large store on the central avenue.
Although it was still summer, most of the clothes on the shelves were autumn and winter wear. Zara is known as a leading fast-fashion brand, swiftly adopting trends and switching up product lineups in short cycles. But at the Barcelona flagship store, Zara demonstrated that it is the type of brand that establishes trends for subsequent seasons.
At the time, Yanai was on the verge of realizing his long-held dream of opening a store in central Tokyo. He wondered how best to present the Uniqlo brand in the three-story building acquired in the capital's trendy Harajuku district.
Takashi Sawada, Yanai's right-hand man at the time who went on to become president of convenience store chain FamilyMart, suggested the first floor should highlight fleece. Sawada believed it was necessary to demonstrate Uniqlo's true essence within the heart of the fashion district.
The strategy was successful, triggering the so-called fleece boom in Japan. Fleece embodied Uniqlo's identity at the time, defined by being affordable, timeless and made to wear by all.
Riding this momentum, Uniqlo expanded to the U.K. in 2001, then China and the U.S. But the chain failed to gain traction in any of these markets.
That was when Yanai sought the advice of Leslie Wexner, who launched The Limited in the U.S. and later oversaw Victoria's Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch. Yanai has said that Wexner is the businessman he respects the most.
When Yanai visited Wexner's home, he asked how his brand could compete globally. Wexner's answer was not at all what Yanai expected: It may be entirely impossible to expand globally in the apparel industry, he said.
But Wexner offered one possibility. Uniqlo could create large shops resembling department stores, with Zara being a prime example of that approach.
"He gave me the hint," said Yanai. "We need to open flagship stores on high streets around the world and say 'Uniqlo is here.'"
Yanai adopted the strategy of selling Uniqlo before selling clothes. He started off by closing all the small Uniqlo locations in shopping malls in New York City's suburbs, and opened a flagship store in the prime SoHo area of Manhattan in 2006.
The product lineup and the displays were based on techniques perfected in Japan. Even the logo on the store's sign included the word "Uniqlo" written in Japanese script, to immediately convey that this location was different from the other shops in the neighborhood.
From there, Uniqlo ramped up its global expansion. Flagship stores were established in major cities around the world, fulfilling the role of communicating Uniqlo's brand identity.
Twenty years later, Uniqlo is shifting to opening flagship stores in Japan. The reason why could be found when Yanai presented strong annual earnings for the fiscal year ended August 2025.
"Perhaps a global boom has come," Yanai said at the time. Until then, Uniqlo was sometimes confused with fast fashion, but the CEO apparently felt that the world was beginning to recognize what Uniqlo is all about.
But something was missing back home in Japan. Since the 2010s, Uniqlo's operating profits have remained largely flat, despite the flagship store strategy taking off overseas.
In 2004, Uniqlo declared it would stop selling items at low prices. In recent years, the brand has focused on rolling out relatively expensive products, particularly for its autumn and winter collections.
But with sales per store area remaining stagnant, Uniqlo decided to add more flagship stores in Japan to rebuild its brand image after abandoning low prices.
However, the true goal may not be fully replicating Uniqlo's success from two decades ago. Online shopping has become commonplace, and the era of AI agents doing the purchasing for the consumer is just around the corner.
How should Uniqlo prepare for the potentially disruptive changes to the retail model? Yanai made an interesting prediction nine years ago in conversation with SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son, in front of an audience of employees.
"Holding physical stores is meaningful in the internet era," he said. "One rediscovers the value of holding a product in hand."
Other Japanese companies in the fashion industries are adapting to the age of AI. Marui Group is shifting from the traditional retail model to the concept of "stores that do not sell," with shops that are purely showrooms.
With AI transforming purchasing patterns, communicating brand identity is becoming more critical than ever. Yanai frequently brings up "reasons that products sell." Uniqlo now faces the challenge of creating those reasons within the physical store itself.