Japanese tycoon Yanai buys Uniqlo building in Milan for $339 million, source says
The family office of Japanese billionaire Tadashi Yanai, founder and chief executive of Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing, has agreed to buy a building in Milan for about 300 million euros ($339 million), a source close to the matter said on Thursday.
Yanai, Japan's richest man, is buying the building from U.S. property firm Hines, the source added. Hines declined to comment. Yanai could not immediately be reached for comment. A representative for Fast Retailing Co., Uniqlo's owner, could not immediately comment.
The 19th-century building is in Milan's central Piazza Cordusio, where Uniqlo's flagship store has been since 2019. The 161,000-square-foot structure, called Cordusio 2.0, was acquired by Hines in 2016 and renovated. It stands across from the city's Starbucks Reserve Roastery and near Milan's main Duomo Square.
JLL advised Yanai. The real estate and investment management services firm confirmed it worked as an adviser for a family office involved in the transaction, without giving further details.
The sale was first reported by Green Street News, which said that Yanai had recently also bought a Uniqlo-occupied building in Amsterdam and another one in London.
Milan's property sector has seen a renaissance in recent years as revitalization projects have helped transform several run-down neighborhoods into upscale landmark zones. Last year, Gucci owner Kering SA spent 1.3 billion euros for a property on Milan's Via Monte Napoleone, its toniest shopping street.
($1 = 0.8855 euros)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
5 hours ago
- Euronews
Annual births in Japan fall for 16th straight year
The number of newborns in Japan is decreasing faster than projected, with the number of annual births falling to another record low last year, according to new government data. The Health Ministry said 686,061 babies were born in Japan in 2024, down 5.7 per cent from the previous year and the first time the number of newborns fell below 700,000 since records began in 1899. It's the 16th straight year of decline, and about one-quarter of the peak of 2.7 million births in 1949, during the postwar baby boom. The data in a country of rapidly ageing and shrinking population adds to concern about the sustainability of the economy and national security at a time it seeks to increase defense spending. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has described the situation as "a silent emergency". He has promised to promote a more flexible working environment and other measures that would help married couples to balance work and parenting, especially in rural areas where family values tend to be more conservative and harder on women. Japan is one of a number of east Asian countries grappling with falling birth rates and an ageing population. South Korea and China, for example, have fought for years to encourage families to have more children. And on Wednesday, Vietnam scrapped decades-old laws limiting families to two children in an effort to stem falling birth rates. The Health Ministry's latest data showed that Japan's fertility rate – the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime – also fell to a new low of 1.15 in 2024, from 1.2 a year earlier. The number of marriages was slightly up, to 485,063 couples, but the downturn since the 1970s remains unchanged. Experts say the government's measures have not addressed a growing number of young people reluctant to marry, largely focusing on already married couples. The younger generation is increasingly reluctant to marry or have children due to bleak job prospects, a high cost of living, and a gender-biased corporate culture that adds extra burdens for women and working mothers, experts say. A growing number of women also cite pressure to take their husband's surname as a reason for their reluctance to marry. Under Japanese law, couples must choose a single surname to marry. Japan's population of about 124 million people is projected to fall to 87 million by 2070, with 40 per cent of the population over 65. Pregnant women should not take weight loss drugs, the UK's medicines regulator warned amid concerns that people are using the so-called 'skinny jabs' in unsafe ways. The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) also said women should not take weight loss drugs if they are breastfeeding or trying to get pregnant, because there isn't enough safety data to know whether the medicine could affect their baby. 'Anyone who gets pregnant while using them should speak to their healthcare professional and stop the medicine as soon as possible,' the agency said. Meanwhile, all women taking the jabs should ensure they are using a form of contraception that works, the MHRA said. One of the drugs, Mounjaro, may make birth control pills less effective, so the agency says women taking the jab should also use a non-oral form of contraception, like an implant or intrauterine device (IUD). 'Obesity reduces fertility in women. So, women with obesity taking GLP-1 drugs are more likely to get pregnant than before they lost weight,' Dr Channa Jayasena, a reproductive endocrinology researcher at Imperial College London, said in a statement. 'Women are advised to do all they can to prevent pregnancy while taking [these] drugs,' Jayasena added. In the UK, women already receive these warnings when they get their prescriptions for the blockbuster jabs, which include Ozempic, Wegovy, Saxenda, and Victoza as well as Mounjaro. The drugs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, work by mimicking hormones that help regulate appetites and make people feel full for longer. They have been approved to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity. But the MHRA issued the reminder Thursday due to concerns that the drugs' growing popularity means women are buying them illegally online or at beauty salons, without seeing a doctor. 'Skinny jabs are medicines licensed to treat specific medical conditions and should not be used as aesthetic or cosmetic treatments,' Dr Alison Cave, MHRA's chief safety officer, said in a statement. 'They are not a quick fix to lose weight and have not been assessed to be safe when used in this way,' she added.
Fashion Network
7 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Bottega Veneta celebrates 50 years of its woven leather signature with a poetic campaign
Italian luxury brand Bottega Veneta is marking the 50th anniversary of intrecciato (meaning 'woven' in Italian), the leather technique that has become its signature. To celebrate five decades of artisanal excellence, the Italian label, part of the Kering luxury group, has launched a striking new campaign titled 'Craft is Our Language.' The visuals feature a series of moving hands—intertwined and interlaced like leather strips—alongside notable personalities. The story of intrecciato dates back to the 1970s when Renzo Zengiaro, the craftsman behind Bottega Veneta, introduced the weaving technique. He co-founded the house in Vicenza in 1966 with Michele Taddei. Their technique and design quickly became a reference in luxury leather goods. At the time, leather in the Veneto region—better known for ready-to-wear—was especially thin, suitable for weaving and commonly used in gloves and shoes. Zengiaro's idea was to use wider leather strips to create bags using his very own developed method. However, success came slowly. Years later, Zengiaro recalled that buyers in Paris rejected his woven leather bags, claiming they looked too much like summer straw bags. The brand halted production, kept only a few samples, and offered them to the Japanese and American markets. Customers in those regions quickly drove up demand, laying the foundation for what ultimately became Bottega Veneta's hallmark. Since then, intrecciato has been reinterpreted in numerous ways by the brand's various creative directors—across apparel, materials, and even oversized weaves. The technique has been used to craft highly coveted accessories, often widely copied. It quickly became a staple in all product categories, from jewelry and furniture to ready-to-wear. Yet the brand's new campaign barely shows its bags or products. Instead, it highlights creativity, craftsmanship, and human connection. This focus explains the use of hands—literally forming a language—as illustrated in a well-known book by Italian designer Bruno Munari. Bottega Veneta honors him through this project. The anniversary campaign 'views intrecciato not just as a technique, but as a metaphor. The interwoven leather strips, which over time became the house's hallmark, represent the bond that links individuals. It symbolizes sharing, transmission, and the collective spirit that drives Bottega Veneta's philosophy,' the house explained in a statement. Shot by photographer Jack Davison and choreographed by Lenio Kaklea, 'Craft is Our Language' is built around a series of portraits paired with images of hands. The selected figures come from the worlds of art, film, fashion, literature, music, and sport. The lineup starts with actress Lauren Hutton, who carried a Bottega Veneta woven clutch in Paul Schrader's 1980 film American Gigolo and walked the runway in 2016 for the brand's 50th anniversary wearing a modernized version of the same piece. Others featured in the campaign include designer Edward Buchanan—who served as Bottega Veneta's first ready-to-wear creative director from 1995 to 2000—Italian filmmaker Dario Argento, actress Julianne Moore, poet and sculptor Barbara Chase-Riboud, singer-songwriter Neneh Cherry, and novelist Zadie Smith.
France 24
7 hours ago
- France 24
Nintendo hopes to recreate winning recipe with Switch 2 console
05:41 Issued on: From the show Japanese video game company Nintendo launched its newest console, the Switch 2, this Thursday. With gamers lining up around the world to collect their pre-orders as early as midnight, investors are hopeful the product will help continue to boost the company's share price, which has risen by over 30 percent since the start of the year. Also in this edition: South Korean cosmetic brands are looking to expand in the US market, despite tariff uncertainty.
