ch3. ethics&social responsibility

Uniqlo said about ethics and social responsibility that act as people on the earth who have an high moral value like changing the world with clothing. It is working more than 10 volunteer activities for environment problems and refugees and children.

 This is one of these activities, " clothes for smiles". It is a common proposal with Novak Djokovic who is a famous tennis player in the world. It has fund of a million from sales of Heattech and Ultralightdown.
 One way to use the fund is giving children in the world dreams. For example, it did that giving children shopping experiences in Serbia. It established a special shop in Serbia and children could choose which clothes they want and get it. This has two goals that let children know that they can whoever they image as aspect of psychology, and giving them clothes for living as aspect of physical.
 The another way to use the fund is volunteer with UNICEF. For example, it is used for the activity that making a school for children in Bangladeshi.

Another activity is support activity                    
for an earthquake, 311, in Japan.
It opened a store in the affected area
where doesn't have a rehabilitation,
does volunteer with NGO and contributes

clothes which valuable 3.3 millions.

Ch1. History and Mission Statement

Hi. 

This is MARIN YAMADA's blog about Uniqlo company in fall semester 2014.

Let me tell you about the company first.

Uniqlo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese casual wear designer, manufacturer and retailer. The company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. since November 2005, and is listed in the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

In addition to Japan, the company operates in Australia, Bangladesh, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia,Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

This company's origins in japan.

Uniqlo in Ginza, Tokyo.

Since March 1949, a Yamaguchi-based company, Ogori Shōji existed in Ube, Yamaguchi.

In May 1984, they opened a unisex casual wear store in Fukuro-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima under the name "Unique Clothing Warehouse". It was at this time that the name "Uniqlo" was born, as a contraction of "unique clothing". In September 1991, the name of the company was changed from "Ogori Shōji" to "Fast Retailing", and by April 1994, there were over 100 Uniqlo stores operating throughout Japan.

In 1997, Fast Retailing adopted a set of strategies from American retailer The Gap, known as "SPA" (for specialty-store/retailer of private-label apparel), meaning that they would produce their own clothing and sell it exclusively. Uniqlo had begun outsourcing their clothing manufacturing to factories in China where labour was cheap, a well-established corporate practice. Japan was in the depths ofa recession at the time, and the low-cost goods proved popular. Their advertising campaigns also proved fruitful.

In November 1998, they opened their first urban Uniqlo store in Tokyo’s trendy Harajuku district, and outlets soon spread to major cities throughout Japan. In 2001, sales turnover and gross profit reached a new peak, with over 500 retail stores in Japan. When Uniqlo decided to expand overseas, it separated Uniqlo from the parent company, and established Fast Retailing (Jiangsu) Apparel Co., Ltd. in China. In 2002 their first Chinese Uniqlo outlet was opened in Shanghai along with four overseas outlets in London,England.

But sales did not go well in England, and stocks in Japanese warehouses were overflowing. In 2002 and 2003, Uniqlo profits dropped sharply.In 2004, the company began joint ventures with Japanese fashion magazines, and hired such celebrities as Norika Fujiwara to appear in commercials. They teamed up with new designers, and profits rose, including at London outlets. The acquisition of other fashion companies by Fast Retailing also helped the struggling company get back on its feet.

Uniqlo in Shinsaibashi,Osaka.

2005 saw more overseas expansion, with stores opening in the United States (New York), Hong Kong(Tsim Sha Tsui) and South Korea (Seoul), their South Korean expansion being part of a joint venture withLotte. As of year-end 2005, in addition to its overseas holdings, Uniqlo had around 700 stores within Japan.By 2006 sales were $4 billion. By April 2007, the company had set a global sales goal of $10 billion and a ranking among the top five global retailers, joining what at the time was Gap,H&M, Inditex, and Limited Brands.

Fast Retailing signed a design consulting contract for Uniqlo products with fashion designer Jil Sander in March 2009. Shiatzy Chen has been approached by Uniqlo to produce a capsule collection of ready to wear pieces to launch in November 2010 while Asia's largest Uniqlo store outside Japan opened its doors in Kuala Lumpur in the same month.

UNIQLO.yamada