Fast Retailing eyes 1,000 global GU stores by 2026

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Oct 5, 2016

Japanese retail firm Fast Retailing, owner of fast fashion chain Uniqlo, intends to open 1,000 shops for its low-cost GU brand overseas by 2026, up from about 10 foreign stores now.

The GU brand, which sells clothing priced at roughly half that of Uniqlo, will expand "first in Asia, where Uniqlo has been successful," Tadashi Yanai, the company's chairman and president, told the Nikkei Review.

Fast Retailing will open a number of GU stores in Taiwan and mainland China. Shops in South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore are slated to open in the next five years.

GU entered the overseas market back in 2013, and currently boasts ten stores. Domestically, however, the brand's low prices and churning over of fashion trends made it popular among younger customers. As a result, store numbers in Japan have surged to around 350.

Big sister brand Uniqlo currently has more stores overseas than in Japan, and the chain plans to set up around 100 shops yearly in China.

As a group, Fast Retailing looks to expand overseas using the two brands to rival Sweden's H&M and Spain's Zara.

Other brands owned by Fast Retailing include Comptoir des Cotonniers, J Brand and Princesse Tam-Tam.