Uniqlo's name was a Hong Kong registration error — a misread 'C' became a global brand

Tadashi Yanai opened the first Uniqlo store in Hiroshima in June 1984 under the name 'Unique Clothing Warehouse.' The brand was meant to be a contraction of 'unique clothing' — intended as 'Uniclo.' The store sold casual basics, a concept that was new to Japan. The parent company was Ogori Shōji, a textiles manufacturer founded by Yanai's father in 1949.

In 1988, Yanai expanded to Hong Kong. During the brand registration process, a clerk misread the letter 'C' as 'Q' on the application form. The intended name 'Uniclo' was registered as 'Uniqlo.' Yanai discovered the error when the registration documents arrived. He liked the unusual spelling and decided to keep the mistake. The name was shortened to 'Uniqlo' and adopted across all stores in Japan.

Today, Uniqlo is one of the world's largest clothing retailers, with over 1,000 stores across 20+ countries. The brand is valued at over $10 billion. The parent company, renamed Fast Retailing in 1991, is the third-largest apparel company in the world. A clerical error — a single misread letter in a Hong Kong registration office — gave the brand its name.

A registration error that created a seven-letter name with no meaning in any language became one of the most recognized brand names in global retail. The mistake was never corrected. The 'Q' stayed.