Tokyo-Japan's beleaguered retail industry has turned grimmer than ever now that Fast Retailing Co., long seen as one of the sector's few highfliers, has lost altitude. Fast Retailing, which runs the Uniqlo chain of casual clothes, has reported a series of disappointing results recently. In the wake, its shares have lost half their value since the beginning of the year. But analysts say that if investors look hard enough, there may be other bargains to be had. The trick, they say, is to look in unlikely places. Kana Sasaki, an analyst with Tsubasa Securities, has her eyes on United Arrows Ltd., a small, casual-clothing retailer that has the opposite strategy to Uniqlo. While Uniqlo's 540 stores are packed with 1,000 yen ($7.42) sweaters and 1,900 yen fleece jackets, the 20 United Arrows stores are stocked with small quantities of 8,800 yen designer-brand rugby shirts and 39,000 yen nylon jackets that can be worn six different ways. Even officials at United Arrows admit that a basic white T-shirt can cost five times more in their stores than at Uniqlo.
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