Japan's Fast Retailing is in talks to purchase J. Crew for as much as $5 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Fast Retailing is the parent company of Uniqlo, which has exploded in the past decade, becoming Asia's biggest clothing retailer. And its leaders have ambitious goals to make the brand the leader in retail worldwide.
Uniqlo, which focuses on mass-producing affordable basics in dozens of colors, got its start in the Japanese suburbs. Less than 20 years later, it's laid its stake along swanky shopping streets in major global cities.
What's the story behind the company's success?
Additional reporting by Megan Durisin.
The first Uniqlo opened its doors in Hiroshima, Japan in 1984.
The company is a division of Japanese retail holding company Fast Retailing, with Tadashi Yanai at the helm. In addition to Uniqlo, Fast Retailing owns brands including J Brand, Theory, and Comptoir Des Cotonniers and National Standard.
The company originally called itself "Unique Clothing Warehouse." By joining those words together, Uniqlo was born.
The name is pronounced "YOU-nee-klo" in English.
In the early 1990s, the Japanese economy hit a major slump. And Uniqlo's cheap clothes got popular fast.
The Japanese economic downturn is often called "The Great Recession" and lasted for an entire decade. It was bad news for the country as a whole, but Uniqlo reaped major benefits by catering to citizens who were trying to cut back on spending.
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