Uniqlo’s U.S. Comeback Includes Two Chicago Leases

Japanese apparel giant Uniqlo is betting big again on American brick-and-mortar.

Japan’s answer to Old Navy plans to open 11 stores across the U.S. next year, including flagships on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile and San Francisco’s Market Street — two locations it closed in 2021 as the pandemic rocked the retail landscape, CoStar reported.

The company, part of Tokyo-based Fast Retailing, said Monday it will open four stores in New York, two in the Chicago area and one each in five other markets. The expansion will bring Uniqlo’s U.S. footprint to nearly 90 stores, up from 78, and marks a notable re-entry into corridors where high retail rents and shifting consumer habits have thinned tenant rosters in recent years.

The flagships at 600 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago and 801 Market Street in San Francisco will be the only ones outside New York City, Uniqlo said. The brand, founded in Hiroshima in 1984, now operates more than 2,500 stores globally. The upcoming wave of openings — planned for next spring and summer — follows a similar rollout this year in California and Texas and next year’s slate across the U.S. and Canada.

In Chicago, Uniqlo is also taking suburban space at Oakbrook Center, one of the region’s strongest-performing malls. Other new sites include 860 Broadway in Manhattan’s Union Square, locations in Bryant Park, the World Trade Center and Brooklyn’s Williamsburg, as well as stores in Issaquah, Washington; Annapolis, Maryland; Boston; and Washington, D.C.

The timing is strategic. The company is celebrating 20 years since it opened its first U.S. flagship in SoHo and recently bought its Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan.

“Our strategy is about thoughtful growth — opening the right stores in the right places,” said Uniqlo USA CEO Fuminori Adachi in a statement.

Uniqlo’s return to major urban corridors could be read as a vote of confidence in top-tier retail streets that have struggled with vacancies and foot traffic post-pandemic.

The deals could be rare international-brand commitments for landlords in Chicago and San Francisco, at a time when few apparel retailers are expanding into physical space.

— Eric Weilbacher