Fast Retailing thinks big ahead of HK listing

Japan's Fast Retailing, owner of Uniqlo, has ambitious plans in its quest to become the world's largest retailer in just six years' time, including a slew of new stores, improved global branding, and a more diversified investor base.

This strategy underlies its preparations for a secondary share listing this week in Hong Kong.

At the moment there are 260 Uniqlo stores in China, most of them in or around Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. The company will now strive to open Uniqlo stores at a blistering rate of 100 per year across the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. And in the US it intends to add 20 Uniqlo...