LYNNWOOD — Uniqlo, a Tokyo-based apparel company, will bring its clothing line to Snohomish County and open a store at Alderwood this month.
The new store will open May 17, according to Uniqlo.
The store is located on the east side of the mall, Alderwood general manager Jerry Irwin said.
“You can’t miss the banners,” Irwin said.
The retailer says it offers “affordable” clothing for men, women and children. Online prices for women’s shirts and other items started at about $15. Men’s and children’s clothing is similarly priced.
Currently, the company operates three stores in the Seattle area and Bellevue.
A fourth location is set to open May 10 at the Tacoma Mall. The Lynnwood outlet will be the retailer’s fifth Washington location.
For Everett resident Ayako Brown, the new Lynnwood store will mean fewer trips to Bellevue Square and more trips to Alderwood mall to shop at Uniqlo.
“This will be more convenient,” she said.
Brown, who grew up in Kyoto, Japan, has been a fan of the brand since she was an elementary school student.
“They were just becoming popular,” said Brown, 36.
In Japan, the retailer’s HeatTech line is popular, she said: “They’re like long johns, everyone wears them under their clothes in the winter.”
Earlier this year, Esquire magazine in a review called the lightweight line of thermal clothing a good cold-weather option.
Brown still buys Uniqlo clothing for herself and, now, her children.
“I like their designs,” she said. “They’re simple but stylish.”
The company was originally founded in 1949 as a textile manufacturer in Yamaguchi, Japan. The retailer is now a subsidiary of Fast Retailing Co., a retail holding company based in Tokyo.
Uniqlo opened its first U.S. store in 2005.
The retailer operates 2,400 stores worldwide, including 53 in the United States and 19 in Canada. It also operates an online store.
Uniqlo announced plans last year to open 20 new stores in the United States and Canada in 2024, a move that would double its current store count. By 2027, the retailer aims to operate 200 stores in North America.
“We couldn’t be more excited to enter the next phase of our North American expansion plan and serve more customers in the United States and Canada,” Daisuke Tsukagoshi, CEO of Uniqlo North America said in a statement.
Besides Washington, the company is opening more stores this spring in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York.
Janice Podsada: 425-339-3097; jpodsada@heraldnet.com;
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