UNIQLO Japan posts a rare same-store sales drop as a warm October leaves winter clothing unsold
UNIQLO Japan's same-store sales fell for a rare month in October, as unseasonably warm late-month weather left winter ranges unsold at the country's largest clothing chain -- though the pullback stayed confined to Japan and looks like weather, not weak demand.
Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. (株式会社ファーストリテイリング) said same-store sales at UNIQLO's directly run Japan stores fell 5.5% year on year in October, including online sales, as unusually warm weather late in the month left winter ranges unsold -- a rare monthly decline for the country's largest clothing retailer, according to the company's monthly sales bulletin, dated November 4.
The figure covers 748 "same stores" -- those open throughout both periods being compared. Total sales across UNIQLO's 774 own stores, including online, fell a steeper 6.5%. Within the same-store figure, customer traffic fell 9.8% while the average amount each customer spent rose 4.8% -- so the stores that did see footfall were not short of spenders; there were simply fewer of them. "Same-store sales declined year on year in October after persistently warm weather in the latter part of the month stifled sales of Winter ranges," the bulletin said.
Three stores that would otherwise have counted as same-stores were excluded from the calculation because they were shut for more than a week during the month: two in Kumamoto Prefecture, closed after a July 28 earthquake, and one in Chiba Prefecture, closed after heavy rain on August 13, Fast Retailing said. UNIQLO opened six stores and closed three in Japan during October.
The pullback is domestic. Overseas, UNIQLO opened a Market Street flagship in San Francisco on October 9, a store in Cannes, France, on October 22, and a global flagship in Shanghai on October 30 -- a reminder that the October dip is a Japan weather story, not a broader retreat for the brand.
The clearest independent check on "warm weather, not weak demand" is prices. Nationwide clothing-and-footwear prices rose 1.2% year on year in September, the most recent month on record, according to the Statistics Bureau. UNIQLO's own average-spend gain of 4.8% in October runs at roughly four times that pace -- on floortok's reading, more than general inflation can explain, and consistent with shoppers who did visit buying pricier items, or more of them, rather than simply paying more for the same basket. The deeper fall is in footfall, down 9.8%, which a one-month price index can't speak to either way; it is the number that matches the weather explanation most directly.
One mild October has not undone the year so far. Same-store sales for the two months since UNIQLO Japan's fiscal year began in September are still up 0.3% cumulatively, Fast Retailing's own data show. A genuinely cold November would likely be enough to put the month, and the dent it has left, out of mind by the time Fast Retailing reports again.
% change year on year