Uniqlo’s New Flagship Store Aims to Lure Shoppers and Perhaps Send an Environmental Message
Ferns make those $15 chinos really pop
If you wander into Uniqlo and search for something green, you have your pick of hoodies, joggers, polos, stretch pants, turtlenecks, shorts, chinos, fleece jackets, parkas, panel caps, argyle socks and t-shirts (both crew and v-neck). Such a mind-boggling selection of green apparel is, of course, a given in the area of fast fashion. But should you wander into Uniqlo’s global flagship store at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York this week, you’re likely to notice a new green offering that’s truly distinct.
Actually, it’s more like greenery.
Hundreds of living plants are featured on display tables, mingling with mannequins and piled atop pilasters. According to Uniqlo, the botanical décor—unveiled under a new “Find Your Healthy” theme timed to the brand’s spring/summer collections—evokes “the natural joy and hope plants bring to people, especially given the difficult circumstances of the last year.”
Put another way, the sentiment might go something like: We know you’re sick of being cooped up at home, so why not come out and shop?
The unexpected element
“As a brand originating in Japan, where the changes of season are celebrated in every aspect of life, we found it was important for us to share that sense of heritage with our customers,” Uniqlo’s USA CEO Daisuke Tsukagoshi told Adweek. Even as Americans continue to navigate “new ways of working and leading our lives,” he added that Uniqlo sought to “commemorate” spring with “an unexpected element.”
A profusion of staghorn ferns, peperomias and dieffenbachias is undoubtedly unexpected, especially in Uniqlo stores that typically resemble spare white caverns. But while it may be tempting to dismiss the flora as a gimmick from the marketing department, Uniqlo has gone to considerable lengths to install something that looks lush and honors its heritage.
To design the display, management tapped Japanese-born Satoshi Kawamoto, the author, creative director and “master plant artist” whose work has been celebrated in the New York Times, GQ and Elle Décor. Kawamoto runs the trendy nursery Green Fingers Market on New York’s Lower East Side and also keeps garden shops in Tokyo and Milan.
“We conceived this partnership with Satoshi Kawamoto to create the plant installation to spark joy and hope for those who come to visit us,” Tsukagoshi added.
Alas, it’ll take lots of hope and lots of joy to pull in the kind of volume that Uniqlo—and all of its megastore brethren—enjoyed before the pandemic came to town.
New York’s threadbare apparel scene
According to data from the Center for an Urban Future, more than 1,000 chain store locations closed their doors in New York City during 2020. Old Navy shrunk its presence from 23 stores to 17, while Men’s Wearhouse contracted from 11 stores to eight. And Forever 21, the onetime darling of the fast-fashion segment, tightened its belt to nine locations from 12.
While Uniqlo’s parent company Fast Retailing conceded “an operating loss” and “a large decline in revenue” in a January Q1 report, Uniqlo, as a whole, has actually weathered the storm quite well.
For the three months ending in November 2020, Fast Retailing’s sales were down only .6% to about $5.7 billion. (Fast Retailing owns a number of smaller apparel labels including Theory and J Brand, but Uniqlo is its main label.) The principal brand has been buoyed through the hard times by healthy ecommerce and a strong Covid-19 rebound throughout Asia.
This is a good thing, too, since Uniqlo’s 15-year lease on its 666 Fifth Avenue property was valued at $300 million—the biggest commercial lease in New York when inked in 2010.
Uniqlo’s financial details aside, it’s clear that any apparel retailer in the Big Apple could use some foot traffic right now. A January survey by consumer research firm First Insight revealed that 60% of consumers are avoiding in-store shopping because they’re worried about Covid-19. The fears stem not only from crowds or interactions with sales associates, but even the fitting room. Just over half of men and 73% of women said they didn’t feel safe trying on clothing. Moreover, the reservations hold even among people who plan to get vaccinated.
“Clearly, the vaccine is not the silver bullet that is going to bring retail back from the brink,” First Insight’s CEO Greg Petro said in a statement. “Our latest research shows that even with a vaccine, people will still be afraid to go in-store.”
Petro added that the opportunity is ripe for the sort of marketing messages—including experiences—that will connect with customers.
A literal green message
So will a bunch of pretty green leaves constitute enough of that experience? Branding authority Deb Gabor, founder and CEO of Sol Marketing, thinks it’s not a bad try.
“Living walls inside a store create an opportunity to turn a retail environment into a destination. When people have been out of the store for a really long time, it is a nice way to bring people [in].”
‘Uniqlo is not fast fashion’
Is it also possible that the plants might send a subtle message of environmental stewardship? Particularly at a time when fast-fashion brands are under fire for churning out disposable clothing that winds up in landfills?
Tsukagoshi maintains that Uniqlo isn’t a fast-fashion brand to start with, despite being owned by a company called Fast Retailing.
“People see the name of our parent company and assume we are a fast-fashion brand, but our founder, Mr. [Tadashi] Yanai, chose [the name] Fast Retailing to reflect the fact we move very quickly when it comes to innovation and adapting our product to meet our customers’ needs,” he said.
“Uniqlo is not fast fashion,” Tsukagoshi continued. “On the contrary, we make apparel that reflects the Japanese values of simplicity, quality and longevity. Our LifeWear clothing represents modern elegance that becomes the building blocks of each individual’s style, which is the antithesis of fast fashion.”
Environmentalists may take issue with Uniqlo not viewing itself as part of the fast-fashion phenomenon. However, while its prices are low and volume is high, Uniqlo’s focus on quality fabrics and basic looks (versus fads that will fade in a week’s time) does vindicate it from some of the critics’ charges. Moreover, sustainability is a message that Uniqlo’s been issuing for a while now. The brand touts a recycling program, signed the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action and appears on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
Ultimately, if the plants do end up sending a love-your-planet message—well, there’s no harm in that. “The plant art installation at 5th Avenue sets out to remind New Yorkers about the instinctive joy nature can bring,” Tsukagoshi said.