Fast fashion retailing continues to soar

UNIQLO Hong Kong reported significant gains in both sales and income on the back of double-digit growth, in addition to strong sales growth for Uniqlo China.New store openings in the second half of the 2013 in China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan, brought the total number of Uniqlo International stores to 359 in February 2013. In total some 70 new stores opened outside Japan in the first half last year.Its performance was especially strong in China and Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea.Tom Gaffney, head of retail at Jones Lang LaSalle Hong Kong, said the trend of fast fashion has rapidly grown throughout Asia in the past three to four years.He said fast fashion brands like Zara and H&M have used Hong Kong as a launch pad for China expansion.With over 48 Million tourists coming to Hong Kong every year, 72% of which are from Mainland China, this provides a huge platform for fast tracking China expansion.Gaffney also predicted these new style retail brands will continue to dominate fashion industry in Hong Kong."They are always welcomed by landlords as they are a great sector to have in a mall. They do great sales, attract a lot of customers and provide a good balance to the tenant mix," he said.He suggested that local consumer are still the key purchaser for fast retailing with over 60% of sales in Hong Kong from local consumers, while some 30% were mainland Chinese customers."Fast retailing is a broad spectrum of shoppers and a broad price point which will ultimately attract a large range of shoppers," he added.Its newest global flagship store will opened in Hong Kong on 26 April.