Uniqlo's US Expansion Plans Come to Grinding Halt After Poor Sales

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Uniqlo announced that it is slowing down its US expansion plans upon releasing its annual financial report Thursday. The report shows that Uniqlo's US sales are suffering due to a lack of awareness of the brand. Uniqlo opened 17 locations stateside this year, and had plans to continue that pace, opening 10 to 15 stores a year in hopes of reaching 200 total locations by 2020, until this most recent financial report. Now, Uniqlo only plans to open five locations in the next year.

Uniqlo will divert its attention to e-commerce while scaling back on the amount of physical locations. Uniqlo has been struggling to turn a profit in America for some time now. This news comes right after Uniqlo's extremely successful launch of the fast fashion brand's collaboration with Christophe Lemaire.

Uniqlo continues to grow outside the US, though. The company reported that its international revenues rose 46% in 2015, according to Fashionista. It saw the biggest gains in China and South Korea, while Australia and Europe slightly exceeded expectations.