Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014
SEOUL, KOREA - Uniqlo Co., the Japanese casual wear manufacturer and retailer, posted a sales revenue of 694.0 billion won last year in Korea alone, up 37 percent from the previous year's 504.9 billion won.
Another "SPA," or specialty retailer of private-label apparel, Zara of Spain reported that its sales revenue in 2013 increased 22 percent to 203.8 billion won from the previous year. Swedish clothier Hennes & Mauritz AB, better known as H&M, expects its 2013 sales revenue to surpass 100-billion-won level.
In all, the three major overseas SPA brands took in more than 1 trillion won from only 344 billion won in 2010. In contrast to the up-and-coming foreign clothing brands, Korea's homegrown fashion brands are struggling to stay afloat. Last year alone, as many as 38 brands disappeared from the market including Underwood and HarrisTone. Several upscale designer brands such as Choi Yeonok and Shin Jang Kyoung were pulled out of major department stores.
Why is Uniqlo popular among clothes shoppers? That's simply because it sells high-quality items at lower prices. Customers can have great shopping experience at Uniqlo stores at the cost of a few dollars for a cotton T-shirt. They can choose items they want from wide selections. As the store does everything from design to manufacturing and retailing, cost can be reduced and fashion change is faster, as fast as a few weeks at the most.
Kim Jeong-mi, executive with Samsung Everland fashion division, said, "Foreign SPA brands are changing the general perception toward clothing price. Under these circumstances, domestic clothing retailers are being forced to change as well. Otherwise they must go the way of the dinosaur."