Cheap goods are always the most popular during economic downturns. This is the biggest business opportunity during the financial crisis. Tadashi Yanai, the founder of Japan’s Uniqlo, topped Japan’s richest list by selling discount clothing, with total assets reaching US$6.1 billion. Now Yanai is planning to launch cheaper clothing and expand his business to China.
Yanai Masaru launches $10 jeans, hoping to give people more benefits when Japan’s economy is currently in recession. Fast Retailing CEO Tadashi Yanai: Salaries are not rising right now, so people want to buy things as cheaply as possible. This is human nature.
As the world’s second largest economy, Japan’s economy has continued to decline in recent years and has experienced further recession. However, Uniqlo has become one of the few thriving retailers. Its low-priced but novel basic clothing caters to people who are increasingly cautious about spending money. The taste of Japanese consumers and is widely praised for it. In 2008, the share price of Fast Retailing Co., which operates more than 800 Uniqlo clothing chain stores, rose by 63%, making it unique in Japan’s bleak stock market. Yanai Tadashi owns 26.7% of the company. The company hopes to achieve global sales of US$10 billion next year and become the leader in Asia’s chain operations. In addition, Yanai Tadashi also hopes to open 100 stores in China. Fast Retailing CEO Tadashi Yanai: Just like we have become the leader in Japan, we will try our best to be the leader in the Chinese market.
