Fast Retailing Co., Ltd.
Explore Fast Retailing
Core profile pages, annual revenue records, and related research hubs for this company.
Fast Retailing Co., Ltd.
Explore Fast Retailing
Core profile pages, annual revenue records, and related research hubs for this company.
Company History
Founded 1963 in Hōfu, Yamaguchi, Japan
The company began with Ogori Shoji in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Tadashi Yanai opened the first UNIQLO store in Hiroshima in 1984 and gradually shifted the company away from a local menswear chain into a global specialty apparel group.
Hitoshi Yanai built the original family retail business in Yamaguchi Prefecture, giving Fast Retailing its first operating base.
Tadashi Yanai opened the first UNIQLO store in 1984 and remains the central strategist behind Fast Retailing's global LifeWear model.
Hitoshi Yanai establishes the menswear business that becomes Fast Retailing's starting point.
Tadashi Yanai opens the first UNIQLO store in Hiroshima, creating the brand that becomes the group's growth engine.
The company adopts the Fast Retailing name as it shifts toward a broader specialty retail model.
Fast Retailing expands overseas and begins building UNIQLO as a global brand.
Fast Retailing reports JPY 3.400539 trillion in FY2025 revenue and 3,570 stores worldwide.
Fast Retailing moved to full ownership of Theory to add a premium global apparel label to the group.
The original company (Ogori Shoji) was founded in 1963 in Ube, Japan. The highly famous 'UNIQLO' brand was officially launched in 1984.
The original tailoring shop was opened by Tadashi Yanai's father. However, Tadashi Yanai is the absolute mastermind who took over in the 1970s and completely transformed it into a massive global empire.
It was originally named 'Unique Clothing Warehouse'. When they registered the company in Hong Kong in 1988, a clerk accidentally misread the 'C' as a 'Q'. Tadashi Yanai absolutely loved the typo, immediately changing the massive brand's name globally to 'UNIQLO'.
The 'Fleece' craze. During the 'Lost Decade' when Japanese consumers were completely broke, UNIQLO aggressively launched a $15 high-quality fleece jacket. It was an absolute massive cultural phenomenon, selling 26 million jackets in a single year and making the company a household name.
In 1991, Tadashi Yanai aggressively changed the parent company's name to Fast Retailing. He was deeply inspired by fast-food chains like McDonald's, explicitly stating he wanted to completely revolutionize the speed at which clothing was designed, manufactured, and sold to the public.