Uniqlo, 17 rue Scribe, 75009

On October 1st, Japanese brand Uniqlo (aka the Japanese Gap), in association with German designer Jil Sander, opened its doors to their new flagship store in the heart of Paris, strategically located across the street from famed department store, Galeries Lafayette. The brand prides itself on providing high quality casual wear at affordable prices (think better H&M) all of which are colorful and vivacious. Strange for the neutral-tone wearing French person, don’t you think?

The appeal, however, is remarkable. The brand capitalized on their slogan “From Tokyo to Paris” and created a strong and unique brand experience that had customers bearing the long line that wrapped around the block just to get a taste of novelty. As was to be expected, shopping madness ensued once they made their way inside.

The formerly tidy and organized pile of cashmere sweaters and Japanese heattech tops were ransacked by savages… I mean customers. It was like every experience I’ve ever had in Zara, only there were more male shoppers. Women were unapologetically bumping into each other while men seemed to avoid the clusters of insane shoppers to get down to business. The store was hot under the bright lights but the salespeople kept their cool, in both English and French, helping the excited and frantic shoppers.

The clothes are identical to those sold in Uniqlo’s NY store and I will be interested to see how long the the mania lasts and if it has staying power. Uniqlo’s carefully coordinated launch and pre-launch (at Colette) in conjunction with its prime location could quite possibly guarantee it long term success. But its specious premium appeal might turn out to be a guise for yet another mass market retailer.

In the news:
Great article from La Tribune on Uniqlo’s launch for all French readers!

“L’ouverture d’Uniqlo à Paris, un “coup” marketing soigneusement orchestré”

*all photos taken by Lost In Cheeseland