Big Take Asia Uniqlo Is Coming for Middle America
Apr 7, 2026
Reed Stevenson, a Bloomberg senior editor in Tokyo who covers Japanese business and retail, walks through Uniqlo’s bold U.S. push. He recounts past U.S. setbacks and the renewed plan to double North American stores. He breaks down flagship strategy, sizing and product hurdles, supply-chain and tariff issues, and what early signs of momentum look like.
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Localized Stores As A Playbook For U.S. Expansion
- Uniqlo is customizing local U.S. stores, like the Dallas location with Texas-themed embroidery and local artist tees, to appeal to regional tastes.
- Reed Stevenson says Texas experiments show the playbook they aim to scale across middle America to reach $19 billion in North American sales.
Global Scale But Sparse U.S. Footprint
- Despite 2,500 global stores and being third-largest by sales, Uniqlo remains scarce in many U.S. regions with about 80 locations nationwide.
- Reed notes that lacking U.S. household recognition keeps Uniqlo from being as globally iconic as Toyota or Nintendo.
Three Attempts And A Pandemic Reset
- Uniqlo's U.S. rollout has been a cycle of rapid mall expansion, weak foot traffic, and retreat, including early New Jersey stores in 2005 that closed within a year.
- The company then focused on flagship urban stores like Fifth Avenue and San Francisco but later scaled back during the pandemic.