Uniqlo opens flagship in major Tokyo shopping district, aims for it to be No 1 store
New Uniqlo store in Shinjuku is aimed partly at foreign tourists but will also stock items otherwise sold only in Europe and the US
Fast Retailing this week has unveiled its fourth global flagship store for Uniqlo in Japan. This marks a return for the clothing brand to a major Tokyo shopping district, where it had closed an outlet in 2022.
The new store, scheduled to open October 25, is in Shinjuku, one of the busiest commercial districts in the country. Shinjuku Station holds the Guinness World Record for the highest number of passengers boarding and departing every day.
The store will offer not just all Uniqlo products sold in Japan – as well as some items available only in the United States and Europe. It also sells T-shirts developed in collaboration with Japanese businesses, such as instant noodle maker Nissin Foods.
Retail company Fast Retailing, which operates roughly 2,500 Uniqlo stores globally, has expressed hopes the store’s location in Shinjuku will help attract domestic and international customers alike, following a rise in tourism after the pandemic.
“Shinjuku is like a town made up of various shopping streets,” Masahiro Endo, a Fast Retailing group executive officer in charge of Uniqlo marketing in Japan and South Korea, said at a press conference. “We want to be the No. 1 store in the area.”
