Uniqlo opens its flagship store in Seoul

Japanese casual clothing chain Uniqlo has opened its largest store in Asia in South Korea's capital, Seoul.

The store in the main shopping district Myungdong has 4,000 square meters of floor space, making it the second-largest Uniqlo store, after one in New York City that opened last month.

On Friday, about 1,000 people were lined up outside the new shop several hours before its opening. The store had to limit the number of the customers that could enter.

Young female shoppers crowded around popular items such as undergarments made of a heat-generating material and down jackets.

Uniqlo chain operator Fast Retailing has been actively entering overseas markets, focusing particularly on Asia's growing economies.

The firm opened its first store in South Korea six years ago, and plans to make the country a base for further expansion in Asia.

Fast Retailing says it plans to increase the number of its shops in South Korea from the current 65 to around 300 by 2020, boosting its sales eightfold to about 2.6 billion dollars.

Friday, November 11, 2011 16:15 +0900 (JST)