Strong family ties draw Japan’s Uniqlo to PH
Uniqlo develops special line for children. Rodel Rotoni
So what does Global brand Uniqlo love about the Philippines?
It’’s the strong sense of family.
Uniqlo found a home in a country that makes it feel like it is part of the family.
“The Philippines is made up of families and we are here to cater to each member,” said Katsumi Kubota, chief operating officer of Fast Retailing Philippines which brought Uniqlo to the country.
Fast Retailing Co. Ltd is a leading global Japanese retail holding company that designs, manufactures and sells clothing under seven main brands: Comptoit des Cottoniers, GU, Helmut Lang, J Brand, Princese tam.tam., Theory and Uniqlo.
Not to be downplayed is the country’s 100 million population with demographics made up mostly of 23-year-olds and above. This is another factor that convinced Uniqlo to set up shops in the Philippines.
Uniqlo offers a variety of items designed to excite and delight its consumers. With malls sprouting everywhere, Uniqlo plans to be within reach of every Filipino as it steadily expands its presence in the country.
“We plan to open eight more stores next year,” Kubota said. To open next is the Uniqlo outlet in Powerplant in Rockwell.
Quality is of prime importance to Uniqlo. Its corporate statement says “changing clothes, changing conventional wisdom and change the world.” Uniqlo wants to move the world forward with innovative and well-executed designs.
With global sales of $11 billion in 2013, Uniqlo continues to expand its branch network worldwide, particularly in Japan, Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, United States and the Philippines.
“The company believes that great clothes should be supremely comfortable, feature universal designs, are of rare high quality and offer superb fit to everyone who wears them,” added Kubota.
Uniqlo came to Philippine shores in 2012 and opened its first store in SM Mall of Asia in Pasay. Since then, sales have been growing steadily.
Even the smallest member of the family gets to wear Uniqlo pieces, Japan’s leading specialty retailer says as it unveils its kids and babies collection for the 2014 Fall Winter season.
For cooler weather, Uniqlo formulated a highly functional material combining lightweight, warmth and easy care for Filipino parents.
“Here in Uniqlo, we believe that kids should be free to be kids. That’s why we’ve carefully designed our lineup of kids clothing down to the last detail,” Kubota said.
Uniqlo uses elastic waists and stretchy materials that are designed to retain the clothes’ form after washing. And on cold days, it makes available clothes that are made of “Heattech” and fleece.
Uniqlo had its clothes designed with zippers that are easy for kids to use. Clothes for babies feature wider elastic waistbands for small hands to grasp. Zipper guards are also available to avoid scratching the child’s face.
In terms of design, Uniqlo offers a wide selection of colors and patterns. Products arising from collaborations with Disney and the maker of Moomins are also part of the new babies and kids collection.
And for kids with sensitive skin, Uniqlo is stamped with the Oeko-Tex seal which is placed only on products that passed strict testing and met more than 100 criteria. The testing ensures that, among others, substances used in the fabric are safe to human skin.
Tags which contains the child’s name and address, as well as safety reflectors (for use at nighttime) can also be found in Uniqlo clothes.
