Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo has announced plans for 11 new US stores to open in spring and summer 2026, including two new flagship locations in Chicago and San Francisco. Known for its affordable casual clothing, Uniqlo already has 79 US stores. It opened its first flagship store outside of Japan in New York 20 years ago, and four of the new stores will also be in the city. The other new stores will be in places like Boston, Seattle and Washington DC. Uniqlo originated with Tadashi Yanai, who is now president of the clothing brand's parent company, Fast Retailing. Born in 1949, as a young man Yanai was a fan of Van Jacket, a clothing brand inspired by preppy East Coast American fashion. And in a recent interview with The New York Times, he explained that he has an attachment to the US market. Yanai took over his family's clothing business in 1972, and in 1984 opened Unique Clothing Warehouse in Hiroshima. Its name was later shortened to Uniqlo, and within 10 years there were 100 stores across Japan. Today, Uniqlo has 2,500 stores around the world. But expansion wasn't always easy. The first Uniqlo outside Japan opened in London in 2001. Although there were soon 21 locations in the UK, 16 of these were closed by 2003. The US has been difficult too. Despite opening its first US store in New Jersey in 2005, Uniqlo's North American business didn't make a profit until 2022. Uniqlo has been finding more US success since the coronavirus pandemic, when shoppers wanted casual wear for staying at home. Around the same time, the brand got a boost from TikTok, where a small crescent-shaped bag went viral for how much it could hold. North America is now one of Uniqlo's fastest-growing markets. And along with his family, Yanai tops the Forbes rich list for Japan, with a net worth of $48.2 billion.