Tadashi Yanai
Photographer: Shoko Takayasu/BloombergThe Big Take
Uniqlo's Billionaire Founder Wants Tenfold US Growth. Early Signs Are Good
Tadashi Yanai has a big dream for Uniqlo in the US — but can he finally make it after years of failed attempts?
Billionaire Uniqlo founder Tadashi Yanai has a number in mind for the US: ¥3 trillion.
That’s almost $20 billion in annual sales, about ten times what Uniqlo’s parent company, Fast Retailing Co., currently generates in North America, and enough to place the Japanese retailer among the biggest brands in the world’s largest clothing market. For a man who has spent four decades turning discipline, repetition and fabric technology into a global empire, it is an audacious target, and one he’s hanging his legacy on.