Instead of throwing just one book at shoplifters, Unqilo’s parent company will now be throwing two.

A major factor in Uniqlo’s success is how broad the appeal of the chain’s inventory is. Men and women, kids and adults, the fashion-conscious and the budget-minded, just about anyone can walk into a Uniqlo branch at any time and find at least a few items they could work into their wardrobe,

Unfortunately, Uniqlo has been struggling with increased popularity from one unwanted demographic: shoplifters. Though it’s been stepping up preventive measures such as additional training to help store staff spot thieves and installing extra security cameras, Uniqlo has now made the decision to also throw all available books at shoplifters after they’re caught, with parent company Fast Retailing announcing that it will be going beyond filing just criminal charges.

The statement, posted to the Fast Retailing website last month, says:

“The Fast Retailing Group has been making continual efforts in the management of our stores in order to create an environment in which our customers can shop for the highest quality of items with a sense of security. However, in recent years incidents of shoplifting have been continuing to take place. In light of this situation, in addition to seeking strict criminal punishment of shoplifters, we will also be instigating civil suit procedures seeking compensation for stolen items and all other damages to Fast Retailing Group.”

Though not specifically mentioned in the statement, Uniqlo has been the victim of at least two large-scale organized shoplifting sprees in recent memory. In February of 2024, a group of four Vietnamese nationals were arrested in Fukuoka after targeting a Uniqlo branch in the city, admitting to detectives that they “came to Japan to shoplift.” The same month a different group of three shoplifters, also Vietnamese nationals, were also arrested for a string of Uniqlo shoplifting incidents, with investigators suspecting the two teams to have stolen a total of as much as 32 million yen (approximately US$221,000) worth of merchandise from across dozens of stores.

The policy of pursuing civil charges is one that will come with some extra required expenses and/or effort for Uniqlo. When someone is caught shoplifting, there’s no financial outlay required by the victim as far as criminal charges go. The police are called, then the government’s criminal justice system takes over investigating the incident, and, if it feels a crime has been committed, prosecuting and punishing the criminals responsible. Civil charges, on the other hand, require the victim, or their lawyer, to handle the process. So if Uniqlo wants to stack civil charges on top of criminal charges against someone who’s stolen from the chain, they’ll most likely have to hire an outside lawyer, since while they could theoretically have someone on Fast Retailing’s internal legal team handle the procedure, odds are the members of their in-house legal team are more versed in business, corporate, or accounting law than in seeking shoplifting-related damages.

Still, those are expenses that Fast Retailing is apparently willing to incur. Even though the best-case scenario for being compensated for damages incurred would, ostensibly, only mean that Uniqlo has broken even (assuming it can secure reimbursement for its court costs), the intent seems to be to maximize the consequences for shoplifting, and in so doing discourage thieves from targeting Uniqlo, GU, and the other chains within the Fast Retailing Group.

Source: Fast Retailing, Bengoshi JP News via Yahoo! Japan News, Sankei Shimbun
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