Uniqlo hits streets
Japanese retailer will open downtown Denver store Oct. 28
With its first Denver store poised to open this fall, Uniqlo shut down a block of Glenarm Place over the lunch hour Friday to give local shoppers a preview of its fall and winter lines of basics for men and women.
But the biggest news to come out of the Japanese retailer’s fashion show: Uniqlo confirmed its muchanticipated 16th Street Mall store will open Oct. 28.
“We look forward to bringing Uniqlo to the vibrant city of Denver, welcoming customers across the city and state,” Uniqlo USA CEO Hiroshi Taki said in a statement. “Our mission is to enhance people’s lives through our clothing, and we are excited to introduce products like Ultra Light Down jackets and HeatTech innerwear for Colorado’s active, outdoor lifestyles.”
It’s been more than a year since Uniqlo first announced its Colorado intentions, selecting the Denver Pavilions for its second U.S. store not on the East or West coasts. (The first was in Chicago.)
The specific location of the Denver store, though, wasn’t made public until around this time last year, when Barnes & Noble confirmed it would be closing its store at 16th and Tremont Place at the end of 2015. Uniqlo barricades went up around the former bookstore space this past spring.
Mark Sidell, president of Pavilions owner Gart Properties, said while Uniqlo may not have the same name recognition as H&M did when the Swedish fastfashion retailer opened to fanfare in 2011, they’re expecting good things from their latest first-to-market tenant.
“There were a lot of records when H&M opened. While the Uniqlo brand is less known domestically, the market push they’re going to make over the next month will be a great education process,” Sidell said. “I think it’s going to whet a lot of appetites. We’ll end up with a lot of pleasantly surprised shoppers.”
Friday’s catwalk featured lots of neutrals — camel, gray, black and white — layers and denim, as well as some of the brand’s popular down jackets and bright flannel shirts.
Best known for affordable, good quality basics, the retailer recently hired Christophe Lemaire, formerly of Hermes and Lacoste, as artistic director of its Paris research center. Uniqlo has more than 1,700 stores worldwide, including 45 in the U.S.
Its two-level Denver location will open on the same day as a new store in the Washington, D.C., area.