[경제]UNIQLO stores close one after another…’boycott, Corona 19′ spoiled

[앵커]

Japanese clothing brand UNIQLO is gradually reducing its stores one or two.

Uticlo, a leader in fast fashion enough to mass-produce numerous similar brands, began to reduce body size as Corona 19 overlapped following the boycott.

Reporter Gye Hoon-hee reports.

[기자]

The Uniqlo Myeongdong store closed at the end of last month, with sales of KRW 2 billion a day when it opened as the largest in Asia 10 years ago.

It was a representative store of UNIQLO in Korea, where long lines lined up just by holding a discount event.

Another store that is about to close.

At UNIQLO, 34 stores were closed last year, and 10 stores will be closed this month alone.

When this happens, only 140 stores that once reached 180 will remain.

UNIQLO entered the Korean market in 2004, captivating consumers with relatively inexpensive and functional products, and has exceeded KRW 1 trillion in sales for 5 consecutive years.

However, amid the anti-Japanese boycott that continued for the second year, the decline in sales was inevitable as the Corona 19 incident prolonged.

UNIQLO’s sales last year was KRW 629.7 billion, down more than half from a year ago.

It has returned to its level 7 years ago.

As the situation worsened day by day, they began to organize inefficient stores in order to reduce costs such as rent.

In response, Uniqlo currently has no plans to close the store, and some say that the rumors of withdrawal from Korea are not true.

He also explained that it will increase the proportion of online sales in line with changes in consumption trends.

[서용구 / 숙명여대 경영전문대학원장 : 부실 점포를 이번 기회에 정리하는 그런 구조조정의 단계다…. ‘메이드 인 저팬'(Made in Japan) 이미지에 영향을 받지 않고 실제 가성비 구매가 가능하다는 점에서 온라인으로 판매하면 다른 결과가 나올 수도 있습니다.]

While there is an analysis that UNIQLO’s popularity in Korea is not the same as it used to be, UNIQLO is expected to focus on making a breakthrough by using a store reduction strategy for the time being.

YTN Kye Hoon-hee[[email protected]]is.

[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]

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