Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. (ファーストリテイリング Fāsuto Riteiringu) (TYO: 9983) is a Japanese retail holding company. In addition to its primary subsidiary Uniqlo, it owns several other brands, including Aspesi, Comptoir des Cotonniers, Foot Park, g.u., Princess Tam-Tam and National Standard.
In 1984, Ogori Shoji Co., Ltd., which ran a menswear store in Yamaguchi Prefecture’s Ube City, opened a new casual wear store under the name of Unique Clothing Warehouse in Hiroshima City. This was the forebear of Uniqlo.[1]
In September 1991, Ogori Shoji Co., Ltd. changed its name to Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., and was listed on the Hiroshima Stock Exchange in July 1994.[2]
In in February 1999, Fast Retailing was listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.[3]
The company also owns the American brand Theory; Fast Retailing acquired "an equity stake in Link Theory Holdings Co Ltd, the marketer of the Theory and Helmut Lang apparel brands, in 2004".[4] It acquired the rest of the company in 2009.
In 2007, Fast Retailing unsuccessfully offered a bid of $900 million for Barneys New York department store to the Jones Apparel Group.[5]
Fast Retailing was founded in 1963 by Tadashi Yanai.