The first Uniqlo opened its doors in Hiroshima, Japan in 1984.
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The company originally called itself "Unique Clothing Warehouse." By joining those words together, Uniqlo was born.
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In the early 1990s, the Japanese economy hit a major slump. And Uniqlo's cheap clothes got popular fast.
By 1994, ten years after the first store opened, 100 Uniqlos were in operation.
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The company saw a rise in popularity after the launch of a fleece apparel campaign in 1998, according to its website.
Uniqlo's faced some bumps along the way. When first expanding overseas, it opened too many stores too quickly — and had to close many of them.
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Although Uniqlo started as a suburban chain, it now has more than 800 stores worldwide, many in urban centers around the globe.
Uniqlo has become the biggest apparel chain in Asia. But company executives have said they want Uniqlo to be "the world's No. 1 casual brand."
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So far, there are only seven stores in the U.S. But there plans to open 1,000 Uniqlos in America, according to Forbes.
Uniqlo's slogan is "made for all," and the store is known for its rainbow-colored casual wear for men, women and kids.
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The clothes are cheap and aim to be affordable for every consumer.
The stores are often hard to miss. The Fifth Avenue store is gigantic, at 89,000 square feet.
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Despite being a Japanese company, about 70% of its clothes are manufactured in China.
It also keeps prices low by buying products directly from suppliers. And it can buy in mass since it focuses on clothing that doesn't go out of style and pumps each item out in an array of colors.
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Yanai, Uniqlo's founder, is one of the richest people in Japan. His net worth is estimated at $15.5 billion.
He is said to have intensely studied Gap and used the American company as a basis for its business model.
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In late 2011, the company was valued at 1.4 trillion yen ($14 billion), according to Bloomberg.
Some features of Uniqlo's business stand out among other retailers. For example, Yanai has proposed a global pay system in which managers worldwide would receive the same wage.
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And Yanai told Forbes that Uniqlo sets itself apart by not chasing trends. Instead, they focus on basics, like Oxfords and polos, and make them affordable.
In March, Yanai told Women's Wear Daily that he "might not be able to retire" because there is no one who yet meets his expectations as a successor.
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The store was virtually untouched during the recession and saw profits climb 17% between 2009 and 2010.
And it hasn't stopped yet. Profits jumped 13% in the past six months, according to the Wall Street Journal, and its overseas sales continue to come in strong.
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If Uniqlo's rapid growth continues, its ambitious plans to be the leader of retail in the U.S. and worldwide could become a reality.
Read about the rise of another casual retailer:
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