Uniqlo launches new concept store, ‘Uniqlo Move’

By

Erin Floyd

Published
Jan 31, 2017

Uniqlo has announced the opening of its new active lifestyle-focused concept store in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in March 2017.

Japanese fashion basics retailer Uniqlo is stepping up its activewear offering with its lifestyle-focused concept store, ‘Uniqlo Move.’ Surfing on the global athleisure wave, the company may be hoping to buck its sales slump in its home market with the alternative lineup, display and customer experience offered by the new store, which will be located at the Takashimaya department store in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
 
Reflecting the ubiquity of sportswear in daily life and consumer casualwear lines, sections of the 75 square metre store will be arranged according to movement, ranging from that of everyday life to the broadly encompassing theme of exercise. According to a statement from the retailer, the store will not only offer a different selection of products and visuals to existing Uniqlo stores, but also act as an information hub for tips on 'making the everyday life of the customer more active and comfortable using Uniqlo products.'

Items from the LifeWear range will be made available to customers setting foot in the store in March, in a continuation of the LifeWear campaign. Dubbed ‘The Science of Lifewear’ in its entirety, the brand’s first global campaign launched last year and was described by Creative Director John Jay at Uniqlo parent company Fast Retailing as the ongoing innovation of simplicity.

Behind the LifeWear design was the idea that the collection embodied Uniqlo’s constant innovation, ‘bringing more warmth, more lightness, better design, and better comfort to your life,’ as the campaign stated. Receiving a role in the range’s product development last year was mountaineer Marin Minayama, selected last year as the brand’s first female ambassador.

The concept for the store’s services and product centres on an innovative and holistic vision of exercise, in an approach to the athleisure craze typical of the brand’s anti-fast-fashion ethos.