Uniqlo considering expansion to Cebu

JAPANESE fashion brand Uniqlo is expanding its store network in the country on the back of the thriving retail industry.

Although the company has no definite plans yet for expansion outside Luzon, Katsumi Kubota, managing director of Uniqlo in the Philippines, said they are considering Cebu as their next destination in the future.

He told reporters he recently visited Cebu to check on some potential malls here and noted that the province is an important market for foreign brands to penetrate because it is already a “developed island.”

Kubota also said they wanted to be part of SM Prime’s expansion with SM Seaside at the South Road Properties and are studying whether to locate there.

“The direction of the company is to operate well in Manila firsts before we open to other locations,” he said.

Japan’s Fast Retailing Co. Ltd., the company behind the Uniqlo brand, is planning to open at least 50 stores in the country by 2015, with 30-40 of these stores to be located in Metro Manila, reports said. Ten stores are planned to open this year.

Since the company’s entry to the Philippine market, Kubota said the brand was well accepted by Filipinos and the business has been doing very well.

“We are surprised at how the brand is doing well here. We are getting results at 20 percent growth,” he said.

Kubota said among the factors that contributed to the growth of the brand is the Philippines’ growing young demographics with high disposable income and the Filipinos’ strong inclination to follow the latest fashion trends.

“Compared to Japanese, Filipinos are more fashionable,” said Kubota.

Citing the Business Monitor International report, Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) president Frederick Go said sales in the retail industry hit P1.42 trillion in 2012.

The industry is eyeing a double digit growth this year due to the robust outsourcing sector, strong remittance inflows and 2013 being an election year.

Uniqlo opened its third outlet in the Philippines at the SM Aura Premier in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig last Friday.

Fast Retailing is said to be the world’s fourth largest apparel retail company under seven brands and with global sales of approximately 928 billion yen last year.

Uniqlo is Japan’s leading specialty retailer. It has more than 1,200 stores in 13 markets worldwide.