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Former Forever 21 Executive Named CEO of Uniqlo USA
Uniqlo’s new chief executive officer for the United States comes directly from Los Angeles.
Larry Meyer, who joined the Japanese retail chain at the beginning of this year as the chief operating officer, has been promoted to CEO of Uniqlo USA, a division of Fast Retailing, based in Tokyo. Meyer is based in New York.
Until last year, Meyer was the executive vice president at Los Angeles–based Forever 21, which is also a fast-fashion retail chain, founded nearly 30 years ago in Los Angeles by the Chang family.
In his new position, Meyer will oversee the day-to-day operations of the brand and will have responsibility for expanding the chain’s stores in the United States.
“Larry’s steadfast leadership has been a tremendous asset to the company and a key component to our successful growth this year,” said Tadashi Yanai, chief executive of Fast Retailing, in a statement.” Building a U.S.-based executive team is a very important step in the next phase of our expansion in the U.S., and this promotion is a logical step.”
Uniqlo recently opened 10 stores in the United States in New York, New Jersey and San Francisco. It currently operates 17 stores in the country and an e-commerce site, but it still has no stores in Los Angeles.
Prior to joining Forever 21 in 2001, Meyer was the chief financial officer and senior vice president at childrenswear retailer Gymboree. He also spent five years as the chief financial officer for Toys R Us.
