Takahiro Kinoshita is the group executive vice president and creative director of Fast Retailing, the parent company of Japanese casual wear brand Uniqlo. He explains why stores don’t need to be just for shopping – an idea that’s demonstrated in Uniqlo’s recent Yokohama Bayside store.
TAKAHIRO KINOSHITA: ‘We want our clothes to be suitable and affordable for everyone. In that sense, online shopping is most efficient for both us and our customers. But not everyone knows Uniqlo, and those who don’t are unlikely to go directly to our website to shop. Their first point of contact will be the physical store, which is why we take store design seriously.
‘We’ve taken things further since 2018, when we developed a new retail concept in the age of e-commerce. We know that people need a reason to visit a brick-and-mortar store, so we want to make shopping a delightful experience – particularly in our recently completed flagships.
‘Our Yokohama Bayside store, for example, functions as a park. While many Uniqlo stores are located in the commercial centres of large cities or in residential areas for easy access, we positioned the Yokohama Bayside outlet as a ‘destination store’. Situated in front of Tokyo Bay, it’s conceived as a place for families to go to relax and have fun for an entire day, rather than somewhere solely for shopping.
‘The park idea resulted from discussions with Kashiwa Sato, who created the direction of Uniqlo’s global brand strategy, and Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, to whom we commissioned the master plan of the store building. The whole roof was literally turned into a playground, with a bouldering area by Japanese purveyor of playground equipment Bornelund. People can bring along a picnic and eat lunch while overlooking the marina.’