Forever 21 aims to open 10 outlets a year in Japan+

TOKYO, April 28 Kyodo - Los Angeles-based fast fashion brand Forever 21 Inc. said Wednesday it aims to open 10 outlets annually in Japan, which it considers the top market in Asia.

''Japan is the number one market in Asia,'' Executive Vice President Lawrence
Meyer told a press conference ahead of the opening Thursday of its second
Japanese outlet in Matsuzakaya department store in Tokyo's Ginza shopping
district.
''If we find the right location, we want to open 10 outlets per year,'' Meyer
said.
Forever 21 is the latest fast fashion brand to enter the upscale Ginza shopping
district where casual clothing retailers are gaining popularity.
Sweden's H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB opened its first outlet in Ginza in 2008 and
Japan's Fast Retailing Co. expanded its Uniqlo store in Ginza last October.
On opening its new outlet as the first flagship store in Asia, Meyer said, ''We
chose Matsuzakaya Ginza as our second outlet because we sensed their vision and
for its great location.''
Norio Takemura, a public relations official at Matsuzakaya, said he hopes this
development will attract customers in their 20s to 30s to the department store.
Known for its reasonable prices and unprecedented designs for young people, the
shop will sell new brands for children aged 6 through 14 as well as older
customers after the launch of its first outlet in Japan in Tokyo's
trend-setting Harajuku district last year.
Forever 21 will additionally launch outlets in Chiba Prefecture and Tokyo's
Shinjuku district late next month.
==Kyodo