JAPANESE fast fashion casual wear chain Uniqlo is to open its first WA outlet, Uniqlo Plaza Arcade, on the Murray Street mall by mid-year.

News of the 1290sqm flagship store, with its LifeWear clothing for men, women, children and babies, coincides with this weeks profit turnaround.

The clothing retailer declared it had notched up a $7.57 million profit for the year to August, from a $5.8 million loss in 2016.

The Perth shop will be Uniqlo’s 15th since it entered Australia in 2014. Fast fashion labels Zara and Topshop arrived in Perth in 2014, with H&M in 2015.

Topshop, which opened its flagship 207 Murray Street mall store in October 2014, failed to meet its central Perth turnover expectations and Topshop’s Australian arm went into voluntary administration last May.

However, Uniqlo Australia chief operating officer Kenji Tsuji cited product, personnel and the locale of its “bricks and mortar” as the key to Uniqlo’s Australian success.

“We’ve been growing our Australian operations steadily since opening in Melbourne in 2014,” Mr Tsuji said. The Plaza Arcade store, 185-191 Murray Street, is owned by Starhill Global Real Estate Investment Trust and spokesman Jonathan Kuah said Uniqlo would add to Perth’s international retail flavour.

Colliers International retail specialist Ben Tana brokered the long-term lease deal between Starhill and Uniqlo. Uniqlo is owned by Fast Retailing Co, a Japanese clothing designer, manufacturer and retailer that also owns brands GU, Helmut Lang, J Brand, Princesse tam.tam and Theory.