Uniqlo’s shiny international stores are pumping its sales as it targets Inditex’s crown

Calling all fans of Uniqlo’s round shoulder bags, baggy curve jeans, and heat-tech thermal layers: thanks to you, the Japanese retailer is thriving more than ever. 

Reporting Q1 2026 results on Thursday, Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing celebrated a ~15% jump in quarterly revenue to more than 1 trillion yen and hiked its profit outlook to 450 billion yen ($2.9 billion) for 2026. Entering its fifth consecutive year of profit, the company’s growth was boosted by a pickup in international sales, even against a backdrop of US tariffs and escalating trade tensions between Japan and China, its biggest overseas market.

Made for all

Since it was founded in 1974, Uniqlo has found success with high-quality, casual, often unisex clothing — a model that worked in Japan and has since been exported around the world. That international business surpassed its domestic division back in 2018, and hasn’t faltered since.

Learning from its early struggles in its first years in North America, Uniqlo has now adopted a calculated and tailored expansion approach to its overseas business. In the US, for instance, it opened flagship stores in urban, high-traffic areas like Chicago, New York, and Boston, which fared much better than the suburban outlets it launched with, while in China the brand has found success opening in malls.

Rising sum

Its international popularity is also boosting sales back home, too, with record tourists visiting Japan with money to burn as the yen weakens. Fast Retailing reports that foreign visitors made up one-tenth of Uniqlo’s Japan sales for the first time in the three months through the end of November.

Fast Retailing’s next goal? Overtake Zara owner Inditex to become the world’s largest clothing retailer. With a market cap of $122 billion against Inditex’s $204 billion, it has a little ways to go yet.