September weather meant sales woes for Uniqlo

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 4, 2021

Fast Retailing’s Uniqlo operation in Japan continued a run of bad sales figures on Monday with the company reporting comparable sales down as much 19.1% year-on-year during September.

It also said that total sales fell an even larger 19.8%.

As is often the case with the chain that has plenty of weather-relevant basics as a big part of its offer, the climate was a major factor in the performance.

The company said that while sales of autumn items were strong in the early part of the month because the weather had turned cooler, sales subsequently struggled after temperatures rose again from the middle of the month onward.

At least the September figures weren’t as bad as those for August with total sales having fallen by 37.3% and same-store sales (including online) down 38.9% in the prior month. Once again, it was the weather to blame, although this time it was because it wasn’t summery enough, with wet weather crushing sales of late summer clothing.

The retailer doesn’t release monthly figures for its non-Japanese Uniqlo stores, nor for its other chains.