Many American retailers are cutting back at shopping malls. Chains like Gap Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch, Coldwater Creek and Talbot’s say they have too many stores at too many malls. Hundreds of stores are on the chopping block.

Now, that pain is being seen as an opportunity — for some foreign retailers.

Uniqlo, the Japanese basics brand, is starting aggressive growth plans at shopping malls that are expected to include 20 to 30 new stores a year over the next eight years.

In its first move, Uniqlo, which has three stores in New York City and one opening this fall in downtown San Francisco, has signed a lease at the Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, N.J. The store will be in a space previously occupied by an Old Navy store.

Other international retailers, from the low end, like Massimo Dutti and Topshop, to the high end, like the PPR brands Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga, are also adding new stores in the United States.