FAST RETAILING CO., LTD.

Major clothing brands including Levi Strauss & Co., Uniqlo, Primark, and Zara are expanding in-store repair services and sewing workshops to appeal to Generation Z consumers who prioritize sustainability and saving money. Levi's has created a handstitching course for high school students and offers repair and customization services at hundreds of stores worldwide. Primark has held over 730 free 'Love It For Longer' workshops across nine countries and tested in-store repairs in the U.K. Uniqlo provides repairs, sashiko mending, and embroidery in 75 of its roughly 2,500 global stores. Skeptics like Professor Kate Fletcher argue that such initiatives do little to offset the fashion industry's overproduction, while H&M Group has called for tax policies to make repair and resale commercially viable.

Fast Retailing announced on the 4th that Uniqlo's same-store sales in Japan for July increased 4.3% from a year earlier. Temperatures rose from mid-month onward, driving strong sales of summer items. Customer numbers fell 0.2%, while average spending per customer rose 4.5%.

Fast Retailing reported third-quarter results on Thursday, lifting its full-year profit guidance for the third consecutive quarter as sales at Uniqlo locations across all major regions climbed. Operating profit for the fiscal third quarter, covering the three months through May 31, climbed to 213.79 billion yen, a gain of nearly 46% compared with the same period a year ago. Net profit jumped 39% from a year earlier to 146.7 billion yen, on revenue of 1.01 trillion yen, up 22%. For the full fiscal year ending August, Fast Retailing now expects revenue of 3.97 trillion yen, up 16.7% from a year earlier, and net profit of 500 billion yen, up 15.5%. The company revised both figures upward — by 70 billion yen for revenue and 20 billion yen for net profit — compared with guidance issued in April. Expansion in the United States stood out as a meaningful contributor to quarterly growth, with recently opened stores in New York, Chicago, and Boston boosting American sales, while Europe also posted double-digit gains. In Mainland China, shuttering unprofitable locations helped lift profit margins, and the segment recorded both revenue growth and double-digit profit gains during the quarter. Despite the strong results, Fast Retailing flagged headwinds including a weakening yen that is bearing down on its cost base, prompting a roughly 4% price increase on select fall and winter merchandise sold in Japan, and extreme heat across Europe that weighed on regional sales through temporary store closures and reduced shopper activity.