Uniqlo 1st Store 'Lotte Mart Jamsil Branch' Closing... Operations End on the 24th

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Uniqlo will close its first domestic store, located in Lotte Mart Jamsil, on the 24th. This comes about 16 years after the store first opened.

On the 15th, Uniqlo announced on its website that the store inside Lotte Mart Jamsil would close on the 24th. Nearby stores in Lotte Department Store Jamsil and Lotte World Mall will continue operating.

Uniqlo Lotte Mart Jamsil opened in September 2005, along with the Yeongdeungpo and Incheon stores, marking Uniqlo's first entry into the Korean market. It was known to have generated significant sales as the first store during its early days.

However, sales began to sharply decline following the 2019 boycott of Japanese products, and the spread of COVID-19 further disrupted offline store operations.

FRL Korea, the operator of Uniqlo, reported sales of 574.662 billion KRW last year, a 41% decrease compared to the previous year. Operating losses also increased nearly sevenfold to 12.91394 billion KRW.

Uniqlo closed about 30 stores last year alone and has shut down 19 underperforming stores so far this year. Among these was the Myeongdong Central store, the world's second-largest flagship store. Currently, there are 135 Uniqlo stores nationwide, with 60 having closed since the boycott began.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.