I was invited at the recent Uniqlo LifeWear Spring Summer 2013 Fashion Show held at Venice Piazza Mc Kinley Hill, Bonifacio Global City. I was seated at the second row just at the back of Uniqlo's managing director Mr. Katsumi Kubota and Uniqlo's endorser Miss Iza Calzado.
Oh, la la! I was thrilled to learn last Thursday night that Uniqlo is set to open 10 more stores in the Philippines this year and will carry Filipino designs here and abroad.
Katsumi Kubota, Uniqlo managing director, said that they would be opening four stores in the first half, including one in (BGC) Bonifacio Global City and its first provincial store in SM Pampanga and possibly Cebu.
Uniqlo will soon be carrying clothing lines made by local designers.
Katsumi Kubota said Uniqlo stores in SM Mall of Asia and SM North Edsa sold more than 300,000 pieces of garments during Christmas, the fastest growth in Asia and close to US sales.
The SM North Edsa branch is expected to match the first store in SM Mall of Asia, where the retailer sold 300 million pieces of garments in more than three months.
The Japanese retailer has invested more than $1 million for its second branch.
Kubota said the company sells up to 500 styles, and its best sellers are jeans, T-shirts and shorts.
Uniqlo has 1,100 stores in 13 markets, including Japan, China, France, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, U.K., and US. It posted 928 billion yen in global sales for fiscal year ending August 31, 2012.