What are the key differences between MM Lafleur's approach to retailing and Uniqlo's approach to retailing? What is interesting about these two companies?

UNIQLO

Copyright @ 2020, Ivey Business School Foundation Version: 2020-01-16 M.M.LaFleur, a clothing company based in New York, specialized in office wear for professional women. Specifically, M.M.LaFleur targeted a difficult-to-serve group-working women who didn't like shopping. Despite the challenging customer base, the company grew steadily since inception. By June 2019, six years after the company was founded, M.M.LaFleur had grown from a small start-up company into a thriving business with a loyal customer base. The company's results were easy to be impressed with, but what could M.M.LaFleur do to continue its strong growth and momentum? M.M.LAFLEUR Sarah LaFleur founded M.M.LaFleur in 2013. Her goal was to rethink the process of professional women shopping for work clothes. Her company's mission was to take the work out of dressing for work. LaFleur recruited Mikako Nakamura, a designer who had experience working with major fashion labels such as Zac Posen, to lead the creation of the M.M.LaFleur collection. Shortly thereafter, LaFleur recruited Narie Foster to serve as chief operations officer. She explained her decision to bring Foster on board: Narie came on a week before our first trunk show because at that point I felt that I didn't have enough time in the day. Because we had worked together before at Bain consulting, I knew that Narie could do everything that I could do and vice versa so we could basically replicate each other.' LaFleur, Nakamura, and Foster formed the company's leadership and remained M.M.LaFleur's management team from that time on. The three women described their company as a styling service for professional women.* THE M.M.LAFLEUR CUSTOMER I am so sick of the stereotype that all women are shopping-obsessed. Sarah LaFleurCopyright @ 2018, Ivey Business School Foundation Version: 2018-05-25 In September 2016, Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo, a subsidiary of Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. (Fast Retailing), opened its first store in Canada. The opening of the first Uniqlo Canada location in the Eaton Centre in Toronto marked a notable strategy." The fashion retailer was taking a risk in the Canadian market, a market that had recently rejected foreign brands such as Target and Aeropostale. Fast Retailing's chief executive officer (CEO), Tadashi Yanai, was focused on international expansion and the Canadian market presented a significant opportunity.' Uniqlo's foray into the Canadian market was well researched, and the company approached Canadian customers differently than it had approached customers when entering the U.S. and European markets.* The Eaton Centre location had a larger selection of plaid and flannel shirts, for example, and the store was stocked with a diverse array of sizes in an effort to appeal to Canada's multicultural population. Uniqlo, known for its "cheap, chic, and made for all" fashion designs, had a goal of becoming the leader in the casual fashion market." Merely one month after opening its first Canadian store, Uniqlo opened its second Canadian location in Toronto in October 2016." In March 2017, with the two-store entry plan for the Canadian market, CEO Yanai was faced with the decision of whether and how to continue to pursue expansion in the Canadian market. How could Uniqlo increase its brand awareness and be successful in the Canadian fashion market? THE CANADIAN RETAIL INDUSTRY The Canadian retail industry stood as both a challenge and an opportunity for Uniqlo. The company was aware of the outcomes of other brands' previous entries into the Canadian market. For example, just two years after retail behemoth Target Corporation (Target) had arrived in Canada, it announced it was closing all of its 133 Canadian locations in 2015." Target, a U.S. retailer, faced much criticism after its entrance into and subsequent exit from the Canadian market. Among these criticisms was that it had an overly ambitious and aggressive expansion plan, a lack of understanding of the Canadian customer, and a mismatch in the product mix and features between the Canadian and U.S. stores. Target had proven to be a lesson for other global retailers attempting to enter the Canadian market. For example, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom, Inc. had since opened Canadian locations with a slow and steady approach to expansion and growth