Uniqlo makes and sells casual apparel that includes several categories and social groups. Its clothing items “simple and essential yet universal, so people can freely combine them in their own unique style.”

What makes Uniqlo so successful and distinctive? According to Cynthia Clark, writing for 1to1media.com:

“The fashion brand has come a long way since 1984 when Tadashi Yanai, the company’s chairman, manager, and CEO, took over his father’s successful chain of suit shops and transformed the company into Asia’s biggest clothing retailer, topping ¥1 trillion, close to $10 billion, in fiscal year 2013.”

“While a lot of the success of the now international brand is attributed to the product, Uniqlo has invested heavily in making sure it keeps its customers at its core, including through rigorous employee training. This is not a company that throws new hires in the deep end, but takes time to properly train them in the multiple functions of their job — from folding merchandise to answering customers’ questions and advising them on their purchases. And then there’s courtesy to customers that’s ingrained in employees’ way of doing business; you won’t see a Uniqlo checkout clerk absentmindedly sliding a customer’s credit card across the counter. Instead, Uniqlo trains its employees to hand both credit cards and receipts with both hands, while maintaining eye contact with customers.”

Click the image to read more from Clark.