Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo will open its second Edmonton store this fall as the brand continues with its cross-Canada store expansion. Uniqlo has been opening stores across the country since 2016.
The second Edmonton store will span about 15,000 square feet at the Southgate Shopping Centre, a leading regional mall on the city’s south side. Uniqlo’s Southgate store will be located between Sephora and an American Eagle store, joining several retail spaces combined together for the large new tenant.
The Southgate store follows the fall 2019 opening of Uniqlo’s first Edmonton store at West Edmonton Mall. That location is also about 15,000 square feet on one level. The West Edmonton Mall store was the first for the province and a second Alberta location opens later this month at CF Chinook Centre in Calgary.
Uniqlo has been expanding its Canadian operations since its entry into the country in 2016 by opening stores. Uniqlo entered the Canadian market in September of 2016 when it opened a flagship store at CF Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto. A second Toronto flagship opened a month later at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Both stores are more than 30,000 square feet on two levels.
Uniqlo now has seven stores in the Greater Toronto Area with other locations being at Square One in Mississauga, Vaughan Mills north of Toronto, CF Markville in Markham, Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket, and at Oshawa Centre in Oshawa.
Uniqlo’s first store on the West Coast opened at Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby in October of 2017, and the retailer subsequently opened locations at CF Richmond Centre in Richmond, Coquitlam Centre in Coquitlam, and Guildford Town Centre in Surrey.
Uniqlo’s first store in Montreal opened in October of 2020 in the city’s downtown core at the Montreal Eaton Centre. It remains the largest Uniqlo location in Canada with over 40,000 square feet of leased space facing Ste-Catherine Street. In 2021, a store opened at CF Carrefour Laval near Montreal and in 2022, two other units opened at CF Fairview Pointe Claire and CF Promenades St. Bruno.
The retailer entered the Ottawa market this spring with a location at CF Rideau Centre. That store, similar to the Alberta locations, is about 15,000 square feet.
Jeff Berkowitz of Aurora Realty Consultants represents Uniqlo as broker in Canada and has negotiated all of Uniqlo’s store leases in this country.
Design-build firm SAJO is building the Southgate Uniqlo store.
Uniqlo said in an earlier statement that it has a five year plan to operate about 200 stores in North America, with plans to open about 20 stores a year into 2027.
Uniqlo is owned by Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. which is one of the world’s largest fashion retailers. In 2022 it saw sales of about USD$16.6 billion. The company has a total of more than 2,400 stores across the world.
