Quartz reports that Fast Retailing, owner of Uniqlo brand, is now officially the most valuable clothing company in the world, surpassing Inditex, owner of Zara.
Fast Retailing’s market capitalization stands at $105.6 billion, edging out Inditex’s $98.2 billion. By sales, Zara and H&M are still bigger, but while their share prices have fluctuated through the global turmoil brought about by Covid-19, Fast Retailing’s stock has been on a steady rise since April 2020.
Why? In contrast with Inditex that’s getting more than 60% of its revenue from European markets, Fast Retailing is heavily Asian-centric and this is the region that’s making a faster COVID-19 recovery.
By August of 2020, Uniqlo had 866 stores (pdf) across greater China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, outnumbering its 813 stores in Japan.
Uniqlo’s products are casual and functional and since nobody can go out partying or dressing up for work these days, customers apparently prefer them to Zara or H&M’s products.
Asia’s future is Bright and if Fast Retailing can capture a good chunk of this bright future, it will continue to stay on top.
