UNIQLO Offers Smartphone Users $1 Social Business App

Learn a new language with this app

UNIQLO announces the release of The Value of $1 Android application for smartphones on March 29, the latest initiative in its growing social business program. This initiative extends UNIQLO’s partnership with social business pioneer Grameen by offering smartphone users around the world an opportunity to support educational programs for children in Bangladesh through a single US dollar or equivalent in local currencies.

UNIQLO is a brand of Fast Retailing Co. (FR), a leading global Japanese retail holding company that designs, manufactures and sells clothing under five brands: Comptoir des Cotonniers, g.u., Princesse tam.tam, Theory, and UNIQLO. With global sales of 820 billion yen for the 2011 fiscal year ending August 31, 2011, FR is the world’s fourth largest apparel retail company and UNIQLO is Japan’s leading specialty retailer.

The Value of $1 project is based on the concept of connecting people around the world through the value of investing one US dollar. By simply purchasing The Value of $1 Android application, smartphone users can directly participate in a social business in a new way. The app supports several languages including English, Japanese, French, Korean and Chinese (simplified and traditional) and will be available to smartphone users around the world for $1 via the Android Market online store.

All the proceeds from the first 10,000* sales of the app will go towards the production of fun learning T-shirts and study booklets designed to promote literacy among children in Bangladesh. Sales of the app will enable Grameen UNIQLO to sell learning sets worth $2 for the equivalent of $1 in local currency. The entire process from manufacturing to marketing will be handled locally and any profits will be reinvested by Grameen UNIQLO into projects designed to contribute to Bangladeshi society through the local production and marketing of clothing.

Help with just one click

Smartphone users who register for the project through the app receive an electronic certificate of
participation. The certificate will track the progress of the production and marketing process giving
participants the opportunity to actually see their $1 investment at work. Users of the app can also
download a fun electronic learning aid for Bengali--the official language of Bangladesh.
The pay version of The Value of $1 app is limited to first 10,000 participants. A free version of the
app will be available for download after the project ends.

*NOTE: The app costs the equivalent of $1 US. Local currency conversion is calculated based on the exchange rates when sales of the app begin. If the local price after the exchange conversion is below the minimum price permitted on the local Android Market, the app will be priced at the lowest permitted price for that region.

For more information about The Value of $1 Android app, please visit: http://www.grameenuniqlo.com

Today UNIQLO has more than 1,000 stores worldwide, namely in the U.S., U.K. France, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Korea, as well as Japan. UNIQLO continues to open large-scale stores in some of the world's most important cities and locations, as part of its ongoing efforts to solidify its status as a truly global brand. UNIQLO operates an integrated business model under which it designs, manufactures, markets and sells high-quality, casual apparel in line with its ‘Made for All’ philosophy.

With a corporate statement committed to changing clothes, changing conventional wisdom and change the world, FR is dedicated to creating great clothing with new and unique value to enrich the lives of people everywhere. For more information about UNIQLO and other FR brands, please visit www.uniqlo.com or www.fastretailing.com.