Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. (株式会社ファーストリテイリング, Kabushiki Kaisha Fāsuto Riteiringu) is a public Japanese multinational retail holding company.
| Website | www.fastretailing.com/eng |
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In addition to its primary subsidiary Uniqlo, it owns several other brands, including J Brand, Comptoir des Cotonniers, GU, Princesse Tam-Tam, and Theory.
The company was founded as Men’s Shop Ogori Shoji in 1949, and formally incorporated as Ogōri Shōji Co., Ltd. in 1963 by Hitoshi Yanai.
In 1984, the company, which ran a menswear store in Ube, Yamaguchi, opened a new casual-wear store named Unique Clothing Warehouse in Hiroshima City; this was the forebear of Uniqlo.
In September 1991, Ogori Shoji changed its name to Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., and was listed on the Hiroshima Stock Exchange in July 1994.
In February 1999, it was listed on the first section (large companies) of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The company also owns the American brand Theory; Fast Retailing acquired “an equity stake in Link Theory Holdings Co Ltd, the marketer of the Theory and Helmut Lang apparel brands, in 2004″. It acquired the rest of the company in 2009.
In 2007, it unsuccessfully offered a bid of US$900 million for Barneys New York department store to the Jones Apparel Group.
In 2012, the company purchased an 80% stake of premium denim company J Brand for US$290 million and US$10 million in advisory legal fees
Theory is a New York-based men’s and women’s contemporary fashion label that sells clothes and accessories.
In addition to these fashion brands, it also owns several other brands, including Comptoir des Cotonniers, Princesse Tam-Tam, and J Brand.
With over 56 000 employees in more than 25 countries and regions, Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. is considered one of the world’s largest manufacturers and retailers of private-label apparel. According to Forbes, it is considered one of the top 2000 largest public companies in the world and one of the Top Regarded Companies.
*Information from Forbes.com, Wikipedia.org, and ”www.fastretailing.com/eng”.
**Video published on YouTube by “CK Media“.
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