Dive Brief:
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Uniqlo Tuesday said it would be opening new stores in Seattle, Northern Virginia, and Denver for the first time.
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Later this year and early next, the Japanese retailer will also open additional stores in key retail sections of Chicago, Boston, and Toronto.
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The retailer has been in the U.S. since 2006 when it opened its flagship New York store in SoHo and operates 39 stores in the States, most in large urban areas on each coast.
Dive Insight:
Uniqlo has 39 U.S. stores, not even close to the hundreds of many other apparel retailers, but the expansion announced Tuesday marks an incursion into smaller cities, and likely just the beginning of more store openings. These new stores will certainly help Uniqlo accomplish its publicized goal of becoming the biggest apparel retailer in the world.
"Having established a foothold in a number of key locations along the East and West Coasts, we are very pleased to announce our plans to continue to expand our national presence further in these new markets," said Larry Meyer, CEO of Uniqlo USA.