[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Uniqlo, which has been restructuring by downsizing offline stores and shifting to online, has succeeded in turning a profit.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 3rd, FAL Korea, which operates Uniqlo in Korea, recorded an operating profit of 52.947 billion KRW from September 1 last year to August 31 this year, turning profitable from an operating loss of 88.3639 billion KRW in the previous fiscal year. Sales amounted to 582.41 billion KRW, a 7.5% decrease compared to the previous year, which is analyzed to be due to the reduction of offline stores.
Uniqlo, which was directly hit by the boycott of Japanese products in 2019, quickly reorganized unprofitable stores and began restructuring. The number of domestic stores, which was 187 in 2019, has significantly decreased to 134 as of the 3rd. The Myeongdong store, one of Asia's largest flagship stores, as well as the first domestic store in Jamsil, have closed. On the 11th of this month, additional closures will take place at Lotte Mart Junggye and Seoul Station stores, organizing about 10 stores this year alone.
Instead, Uniqlo has strengthened its business centered on online and reversed the mood by continuously releasing collaboration products with famous designers popular among the younger generation. The collection launched in October in collaboration with Japan's high-end brand 'White Mountaineering' caused a sell-out frenzy. The word of mouth spread as Uniqlo sold White Mountaineering products, which cost several million KRW, at prices in the 100,000 KRW range. Last month, on the day Uniqlo started selling the '+J' 2021 Fall/Winter (FW) collection in collaboration with designer Jil Sander, long lines formed in front of stores and sold-out streaks continued.
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