Uniqlo Co. Tadashi Yanai , the head of the family retail conglomerate, liked the error, and shortened the name to "Uniqlo" across Japan. By April there were over Uniqlo stores operating throughout Japan.
In November , it opened their first urban Uniqlo store in Tokyo's Harajuku district, and outlets soon spread to major cities throughout Japan. In , their first Chinese Uniqlo outlet was opened in Shanghai , along with four overseas outlets in London and Basingstoke , England. On 1 November , Fast Retailing transferred the business related to clothing manufacturing and retailing to Sun Road Co.
On the same day, Sun Road changed its name to Uniqlo Co. Fast Retailing signed a design consulting contract for Uniqlo products with fashion designer Jil Sander in March On 2 September , Fast Retailing announced that the company would target annual group sales of 5 trillion yen approx.
This meant that the company was aiming to be the world's biggest specialty retailer of private label apparel. The company's international business target included one trillion yen in China, one trillion in other Asian countries, and one trillion in Europe and the United States. As of 30 November , Fast Retailing claims to operate 2, Uniqlo stores. Uniqlo opened its first Australian store in Melbourne in April As of November , there are 28 stores in Canada.
Uniqlo entered the Chinese mainland in As of November , there are stores in China. In May , the magazine Shukan Bunshun published a story alleging that Uniqlo had forced employees at its stores and factories in China to work long hours for little pay. A video of a couple having sex in a Beijing Uniqlo store changing room went viral.
