The global COVID-19 epidemic has brought an unprecedented impact on physical businesses, and has also accelerated the process of digitalization of fashion retail. So, will physical stores become increasingly marginalized? Do fashion brands still need to invest heavily in the development and construction of stores?
Yanai Masa (Tadashi Yanai) Fast Retailing Group and Uniqlo (Uniqlo) gave a clear answer.
Recently, Uniqlo has opened three "amazing" heavyweight stores in Yokohama, Tokyo, and Harajuku: Uniqlo Park Yokohama Bayside and Uniqlo Tokyo. (Picture below), Uniqlo Harajuku store, the total retail area of the three stores is approximately 11,000 square meters. In June, UNIQLO will also open 8 new stores in eight cities including Hangzhou, Kunming, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Foshan, Handan, and Nanchong in China.
As a world-renowned retailer and apparel brand, such courage and layout are undoubtedly a boost to the turbulent global physical business.
Recently, Yanai said at the opening ceremony of the new store in Tokyo: "In the future, stores built for customers will continue to prosper, because the store has a meaning of existence, and the staff will also have a sense of mission and want to sell good products. , so that customers can have an experience that makes them feel worth it. Only stores like this will stay. On the contrary, stores that are not like this will be severely affected by the epidemic. "
Through this article, "Luxe.co" will take a closer look. These three heavyweight stores opened by UNIQLO in Japan will be introduced in detail to learn about its latest understanding and specific interpretation of the development direction of physical stores.
The world's first UNIQLO flower shop + rooftop amusement park
——UNIQLO Land Yokohama Harbor Store——
Sato Kashiwa once said that he hopes to create a "even if it is not in the city center, people will want to go there specially." "Destination Store", the UNIQLO Land Yokohama Harbor Store, as a very large community store, was built based on this idea.
The Uniqlo Yokohama Bayside store is an independent building standing on the Yokohama seaside, next to the newly opened commercial complex Mitsui Outlet Park Yokohma Bayside. The store has three floors and is designed by the well-known architectural design master Sou Fujimoto. His past works include: the 2013 Serpentine Gallery Summer Exhibition Hall in London, UK, and the new library of Musashino Art University.
The overall retail area of the store is about 4,000 square meters, which is divided into a 2,178㎡ Uniqlo store and a 1,815㎡ GU store.
Rooftop amusement park + the world's first UNIQLO flower shop
The biggest feature of the entire building is The white color + sloping roof carries the essence of UNIQLO Park on this open-air roof, because it is designed with various slides, children's rock climbing, trampolines, climbing nets and other play areas, as well as outdoor rest areas and other facilities. There are also many green plants planted in the store's roof garden. Some of the olive trees come from Toshima in the Seto Inland Sea. The cultivation funds for these trees come from the "Setouchi Olive Fund".
This store also houses the world’s first Uniqlo flower shop, selling seasonal flowers.
(In 2000, under the call of the Japanese architect Tadao Ando and the late lawyer Eiro Nakabo, the "Setouchi Olive Fund" was established, aiming to help Toshima and other Seto areas where illegal dumping of industrial waste occurred. The islands and coasts of the inland sea have been restored to their former rich natural scenery. Since 2001, UNIQLO has joined in fundraising activities for this fund through its stores, and GU has also joined the fund-raising campaign since September 2011. It is to plant millions of trees.)
A multi-brand retail store for families
Uniqlo positions the target customers of this store as "family", highlighting "community" and "lifestyle". The products cover all ages, young and old.
The first floor is Uniqlo's third largest store in Kanagawa Prefecture area, with a total of about 500 SKUs.
The GU products on the second floor cover a comprehensive range, including sportswear, home wear, shoes, bags, accessories, etc., and a brand-exclusive matching corner is also set up to showcase the brand's future growth strategy - to become a connected lifestyle, Producers and the planet’s brands, fashion wear, etc.
The third floor is dedicated to children and infant products, which gathers UNIQLO's children and infant products, GU's children's products, and the youth product line AND24LOVELY. This is also the first time that UNIQLO and GU brands share the same retail space.
(In the 2019 fiscal year from September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2019, Uniqlo Japan’s sales of children and infant products were 66.3 billion yen, approximately RMB 4.4 billion, accounting for 1% of Uniqlo Japan’s sales 2.9% of the total, which is slightly lower than the 3.2% in fiscal 2018)
houses the world’s largest sustainable-themed permanent display space
- Uniqlo Tokyo Store -
Uniqlo Tokyo Store (Uniqlo Tokyo). Located on the 1st to 4th floors of Ginza Marronnier Gate Ginza2 building in Tokyo.
Yanai Masaru pointed out: "The Ginza neighborhood is directly connected to Nipponbashi , Tokyo Station and other important places, and indirectly connects the whole of Japan. Japan can start to revive from here. In addition, this building (where Uniqlo is located) The building is the largest building in Ginza. We hope to convey a message to customers through this store and let him/her gain happiness through shopping. "
Since Ginza in Tokyo is a very international location with diverse consumers, it is a great choice for customers. The ubiquitous brand promotion and display in this store has become the biggest highlight.
The second largest flagship store in the world
The Uniqlo Tokyo store is divided into four floors, with a total of 61 fitting rooms, and an overall retail area of 4,950 square meters. It is the largest flagship store in Japan and the second largest. The world's second largest flagship store in Shanghai.
The exterior and interior design of this store was designed by Swiss architectural firm Herzog de Meuron. They won the Pulitzer Prize for Architecture in 2001. Their works include London's Tate Modern and the Beijing Olympics "Bird's Nest" country. Famous buildings such as the stadium and Prada Tokyo flagship store.
As the culmination of brand stores, UNIQLO Tokyo store has a strong industrial style and futuristic feel. The exposed concrete structure, double-height entrance space and four-story high internal atrium give people a sense of grandeur. Digital billboards created by interface designer Yugo Nakamura are embedded in the roof and building facades.
The world's largest permanent exhibition space with sustainable development themes
UNIQLO Tokyo store has the world's largest permanent exhibition space with sustainability-related themes, spread across different floors.
For example: the archive display area of the booklet "Power of Clothing" that the brand has published regularly since 2009, as well as the "people", "planet", "community" )" is an exhibition themed. In the future, this store will continue to launch activities related to themes of sustainable development and female empowerment.
Integrate promotional content into every corner of the store
In the center of the door is the regularly changing brand product and technology display space: LifeWear Square. Currently, this space displays the brand’s black technology “AIRism” products.
On each floor, UNIQLO has designated an artist collaboration exhibition space. Currently, a total of 11 artist collaboration series are on display, such as: headwear created by the late stylist Katsuya Kamo, and florist Megumi Shinozaki of edenworks. works, works by Shiseido’s chief hair artist Harada Tadashi, etc.
The fourth floor is mainly for UT and children's clothing and infant clothing. There is a UT Archives Space, which displays all UT from 2002 to the present. There are also profiles of UT's cooperative artists and related books near the stairs.
To commemorate the opening of the UNIQLO Tokyo store, UNIQLO collaborated with the magazine "GINZA" on a special issue to tell the history of Ginza streets, as well as the fashionable outfits and styles associated with Ginza. A special space was opened in the store to display this cooperation .
The store also opened a display space for UNIQLO's global brand ambassadors, displaying sportswear signed by six athletes including Roger Federer, Kei Nishikori, and Adam Scott, strengthening the brand's reputation in the field of sportswear. image, consumers can also purchase the same model here.
Link with surrounding stores to encourage personalized customization
The "UTme!" personalized service of Uniqlo Tokyo store has been upgraded again.
On the basis of the original optional patterns, UNIQLO has reached a joint cooperation with ten popular stores in the Ginza neighborhood. Consumers can use the logos of these ten stores to create their own UT, including: Wagashi store "Koraya" , "Matsuzaki Pancake", kimono clothing store "Ginza Motoji", etc.
In the men's clothing area on the third floor, there is also a semi-customized men's suit trying-on area. Suits of various sizes are available for trying on. If the size is suitable, you can take it away directly. The store also provides modification services.
240 touch display screens linked to the outfit app
- UNIQLO Harajuku store -
Kusaka Masanobu, senior executive vice president of Fast Retailing Group, said: "As the center of Japanese pop culture, fashion and life, Harajuku has special significance to UNIQLO. . ”
As Kusaka Masanobu said, in 1998, Uniqlo opened its first city center store in the metropolitan area in Harajuku, and in 2007, it opened the brand’s first UT store in the world. However, since 2012, it has Uniqlo has not opened a store in this area for eight years.
The Uniqlo Tokyo Harajuku store is located on the ground floor and basement of the newly opened comprehensive commercial complex With Harajuku, with a retail area of approximately 2,000 square meters. It stands adjacent to Shiseido’s experiential collection store Beauty Square and IKEA Japan’s first store focusing on “urban life needs”, IKEA Harajuku. The store space is divided into themed sections such as UT POP OUT, StyleHint Harajuku, Spotify SPECIAL Booth, and Uniqlo Hrajuku feat. POPEYE.
240 touch display screens are linked to the brand's self-developed clothing app to create a digital experience
"StyleHint Harajuku" located on the basement floor is the first UNIQLO to link with the self-developed clothing app "StyleHint" sales space.
Based on the concept of "Clothing Library of the Future", UNIQLO has embedded a total of 240 touch screens on an entire wall, allowing customers to search and view UNIQLO's latest clothing combinations submitted by users, and find the products they want to buy. Displays indicate to customers where the items they are interested in are located in the store. The space was developed with I&CO founding partner Rei Inamoto as creative director.
"StyleHint" is a clothing search and outfit recommendation app jointly launched by UNIQLO and GU, another brand under Fast Retailing. Users upload pictures of their favorite outfits, and the app will automatically identify related clothing styles similar to those in the pictures and make recommendations. According to reports, this app can also learn independently based on uploaded pictures. The more pictures users upload, the more accurate the app will search for similar products.
Masanobu Kusaka, senior executive vice president of Fast Retailing Group, said: "As we continue to transform into a digital consumer retail company, the Uniqlo Harajuku store not only fully embodies the LifeWear clothing concept, but is also creative and innovative, and can perfectly integrate
Using UT to anchor the younger generation
The entrance to the first floor is greeted by the brand new "UT POP OUT" themed exhibition and sales space, displaying current and various artists and Brand collaborations, and design T-shirts spanning music and culture.
Shortly after the opening, a 3-meter-tall statue of 18-year-old pop idol musician Billie Eilish made by contemporary art master Murakami will be placed at the entrance of the new store. It is also the musician Billie Eilish launched by UNIQLO. × Artist Takashi Murakami collaborates with the logo of the UT series.
Uniqlo’s first UT store in the world was born in Harajuku. In this newly opened store, UT still has a huge proportion, accounting for about 20% of the total. It will also display all UT's past joint series since 2002.
In the UT POP OUT space, not only the works of UNIQLO and many artists are displayed and sold, but many limited products can only be purchased here. In addition to clothing, the Harajuku store will also sell groceries products launched by UT for the first time, including small items. Plates, notebooks, stickers, etc. On the opening day of the store, the Minnie bag and HELLO KITTY T-MARKET by YUNI YOSHIDA and other joint series were launched in collaboration with Ambush co-founder Yoon.
Selling books and listening to music, creating a popular culture space loved by young people
As one of UNIQLO’s bases for disseminating culture, fashion and information, UNIQLO Harajuku store has cooperated with many musicians to create the Spotify SPECIAL Booth space. Consumers only need to scan the QR code to experience/download the latest works of the cooperating musicians. Musicians who collaborated for the first time include: Japanese girl punk band CHAI, Japanese female rap group CHELMICO, etc.
To commemorate the opening of the store, the UNIQLO Harajuku store collaborated with the fashion magazine "POPEYE" to publish a special issue to record the "UNIQLO men and women" walking on the streets of Harajuku. A special space was opened in the store for consumers to read the content of the publication. , is now open for online reading.
All kinds of books and art decorations can be found everywhere in the store, and the books can be sold. Books include new and second-hand books, various fashion magazines such as "cheap chic", "an・an", "olive", "BRUTUS", "POPEYE", etc., as well as picture albums by collaborative artists such as Katsushika Hokusai and Anna Sui. wait. The fitting room walls are also decorated with works by artists such as Andy Warhol.
It is worth mentioning that the overall concept of the above three newly opened stores is led by Sato Kashiwa. He has served as the creative director of UNIQLO since 2006 and is responsible for the brand’s global strategy. He participated in New York SOHO, New York’s No. The creation of global flagship stores such as Fifth Avenue, London, Paris, Shanghai, Shinsaibashi, and Ginza in Japan.
Note: Sato Kashiwa (pictured below) is a leading figure in Japan's advertising and design industries today. He is known as the "design magician who can drive sales." In addition to serving as the creative director of Uniqlo, he was also responsible for Japanese fashion. The trademark, flagship store space and display design of the young women's clothing brand OZOC, a subsidiary of the group WORLD, and the creative guidance of TSUTAYA (the parent company of Tsutaya Bookstore).
