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You've seen the ads. You've seen the shipping containers stores. You've seen the boarded space in SoHo. But people are anxious to check out the Japanese Gap-style store, Uniqlo, which promises to sell chic basics for good prices. Think American Apparel in denim, wool or cashmere. The Post ran a big story about Uniqlo on Saturday:
In the market for a simple winter hat? You can pay $18 for an acrylic pompom cap at American Apparel - or just $10.50 for UNIQLO's knitted lamb's wool. How about a warm winter parka? Gap's $168 men's hooded utility coat is 100 percent unfilled cotton; UNIQLO's down-filled coat with detachable hood is just $98.The Post also noted that a pop-up shop would be open on Broadway between 79th and 80th Streets, and reader Myszka was eager to check it out. Unfortunately, she found a not-ready store and had a baffling exchange with an employee (we think):
M: Hi, is this [construction site] supposed to be Uniqlo [the store that's supposed to be open today through Saturday]?
Uniqlo: Yes, it is.
M: Oh, are you an employee?
Uniqlo: (Hesitantly) Yes.
M: Um, the New York Post said the pop-up store would be open this week starting today, so...is it?
Uniqlo: I'm sorry.
M: Huh? I asked if the store was open.
Uniqlo: It will be about another week or so.We've put in a call to find out what's happening. Has anyone experienced Uniqlo? Should people we waiting for its arrival anxiously? And a Uniqlo shipping container will be in Astor Place on Saturday.
M: Oh, well, I'm sort of mad because I walked up here based on what I read in the Post.
Uniqlo: I'm sorry. I can't.
M: You can't...what?
Uniqlo: I can't.
M: Are you in PR?
Uniqlo: No.
M: What do you do for Uniqlo?
Uniqlo: I'm sorry. I can't.
M: So, the Post article ran on Saturday and Uniqlo clearly could have made consumers aware that this store wouldn't be open in time.
Uniqlo: I'm sorry. I can't. You're going to have to speak with PR about that.
M: Oh, OK. [Good thing you're standing out here in front of the store then.]
And there's something in the water uptown, as protesters gathered outside the Victoria's Secret a few blocks north. No, not because Victoria's Secret is too sexy but because it wastes too much paper with its catalogs.
Photograph of people outside soon-to-be Uniqlo store on Upper West Side by Myszka
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You don't have to wait for the one in Soho to open.....there's a Uniglo open right now in Rockefeller Center, concourse level.
So it wasn't open in time. What's the big deal? Should the post have printed another article announcing it's postponement? NYC hype strikes again.
Uniqlo is a great store, I've been a big fan ever since the first Soho store opened. It really is great quality for a low price.
Yeah why so hostile to the employee standing outside? This kind of stuff happens when a new store opens.
i love uniqlo! i bought some gorgeous cashmere sweaters from the uniqlo in ginza when i was in tokyo last year. super cheap. i'm looking forward to their store opening.
Is the clothing in Uniqlo made using Japanese sweatshop laborers or do they use Chinese sweatshop laborers because that's the industry standard?
You know there is a perfectly good store open at Broadway and Broome, right?
I'm excited about this Uniqlo thing opening in my 'hood. But Myszka kinda sounds like a bitch.
Yeah, really. If I was the employee and someone kept pressing me to answer if the store was open I woulda pointed to the construction site & said, "b!tch, what do you think?"
We are always correct. What the hell is wrong with this store? We said you were going to be open!
Also, Democrats fuck babies.
I suppose this is more Suburbanist than Gothamist but there's been a Uniqlo in Edison, NJ for over a year. It was their first U.S. shop.
Besides, nowhere in that Post article does it say that it's open from THIS Monday to Saturday. It just says "Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m.-6 p.m.," like those will be its store hours for when it eventually does open. It'll probably be there for a few weeks, not just the one. Hahaha, maybe Myszka should work on her reading comprehension before getting all snotty with the employee and having it pasted all over Gothamist.
There's a store open in the Rockefeller concourse.
Can't Wait: You kinda sound like a bitch. Yay for bitches!
OK, so perhaps I misread that the UWS location would be open beginning on Monday, Oct. 23. Actually, by the way the hours are written, with no mention of a store opening date, one would assume that the location is already open. Supporting this, the Post piece mentions that the pop-up and container shops have been in the city since September.
So, I guess when you, Can't Wait, talk about reading comprehension, you're talking about comprehending what was neither written nor implied. Clearly, I should have known that the store hours were for when the store opened. Hehehe. (I'm not going to tell you to work on your reading comprehension because that would be..bitchy.)
Actually, I wasn't that annoyed until the girl kept saying, in a Rain Man-like manner, "I'm sorry. I can't." It was odd, ok? I got annoyed. It happens.
And, umm, Ethos...when ya walk up to a store that's supposed to be open and there are five people standing there facing the store, like, something's about to happen...ya sort of think that it might. Plus, there were racks of clothes beyond the boxes.
People just want information.
yeah the one in jersey has been opened for over a year..yet everytime i go past I am waiting for a tumbleweed to swish by... and they keep moving the mannequins around to make it seem fresh i guess...
am i the only person who hates typed phrases like
"when ya walk up to a store"
when ya.. man i can hear your accent through the computer AND ITS BLOWING MY MIND
Nick: I love that you read my whole item! Thanks, sweetie. Love ya.
I went to the one that was (still is?) on Broome street, and have been to a few in Tokyo. Sure, their stuff is inexpensive, and I guess it's worth a visit if you're looking for basics, but it's also awfully bland and fits horribly, much like Old Navy. The ones in Tokyo are stuffed into places like big box department stores, and make the Gap look like high-end fashion in comparison.
About the Upper West Side location from the Uniqlo website:
"The 1,200 square foot Upper West Side preview store will be located at 2231 Broadway between West 79th and 80th streets and will be open before the end of the month..."
Guess that means it'll be open by next Tuesday.
http://www.uniqlo.com/us/news/2006/index.html
"...when ya walk up to a store that's supposed to be open and there are five people standing there facing the store, like, something's about to happen...ya sort of think that it might. Plus, there were racks of clothes beyond the boxes."
Yet, in your own flickr photo comment, "As you can see, it's nowhere near being open"
Your poor assumption from the lack of complete information in The Post article leads you to take out on a helpless employee. Did you consider that maybe the employees standing outside were seeing the store for the first time (possibly part of an orientation) and did not have any information about the opening?
It takes a lot less effort to be a nice person, than it does to be an ass hat.
I heard somewhere that Myszka fucks babies? No way.
Oh, oh, Billy. Wait. How's this: "As you can see (from this perspective of the picture where you can't see the racks of clothes), it's nowhere near open." I plead "lack of complete information" and, therefore, you have made a poor assumption...but in a nice way. I can see how you'd think that my Flickr page would be journalism.
But you are correct to assume that I mistakenly assumed the employee could talk when I was asking her questions...in a nice way.
Guys: I think this is my first internet controversy! Fun!
It's not much of a "controversy" when everyone agrees that you're an asshole.
The UNIQLO SoHo Flagship store opens this Friday November 10 at 546 Broadway. Longtime residential tenants in the building are breathing a sigh of relief the the 6 months of build-out / renovations are finally coming to an end.
In the middle of the night last night the dumped two "container stores" on Broadway in front of the store -- so if you can't wait until Friday you can get your cashmere there.
I had a peek inside the 50,000 sf store -- it looks fanatstic -- lots of white and glass and oak floors. And HUGE stainless steel staircases.
Prices are low, low, low.
Look for spinning mannequins in the Broadway windows! (Wearing cashmere, of course.)
I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.