Fast Retailing to launch Uniqlo in Sweden

Uniqlo has plans to go full-speed ahead by opening a new store in Sweden, a move that would put them in rival H&M's home market. The brand plans to launch its first store in Stockholm this fall. This would mark Uniqlo's entrance into the Nordic market.

Uniqlo is famous for its Heat Tech technology, which will have excellent appeal to consumers in the colder Nordic market. Although Uniqlo has gained huge popularity in the East Asian and American markets, in all of Europe they only have 70 stores. In their 2016 annual report, Fast Retailing's CEO Tadashi Yanai outlined expanding Uniqlo's international growth as one of their top priorities for 2017.

Although the company's report for 2017 isn't out yet, they made great strides with their new LifeWear category and saw strong market growth in Japan. While we are living in an era of online shopping, according to the 2016 report, only 5 percent of Uniqlo's sales came from online. The move to open brick-and-mortar in Sweden is a smart one until their online sales catch up with their in-store sales.

photo: via Uniqlo Facebook page