Japanese global apparel retailer Uniqlo is accelerating its Canadian expansion with the recent opening of two new stores in Quebec – Place Ste-Foy in Quebec City and Galeries d’Anjou in Montreal.
For the brand, it’s the first store in Quebec City.
Uniqlo opened its first store in Hiroshima in 1984 and now has over 2,500 stores worldwide, including 33 in Canada, and online at uniqlo.ca. Uniqlo creates LifeWear apparel based on the Japanese values of simplicity, quality, and longevity. LifeWear offers timeless designs, supreme fit, and comfort, and is shaped by customer needs to improve their daily lives, said the retailer.
Both Quebec locations span over 15,000 square feet and showcase Uniqlo’s unique customer experience and LifeWear lineup for men, women, and kids.
Jeff Berkowitz, President of Aurora Realty Consultants represents the brand as broker in Canada, and negotiated the lease deals on behalf of Uniqlo.
“Uniqlo has always entered new markets and increased locations in existing ones with high traffic locations in top properties – be it enclosed shopping centres or outdoor big box centres,” he said.
“Moving forward, we are looking for more of these as well as freestanding locations and high streets. Preferring stores of approximately 12,000 square feet.”
By the end of 2025, it’s anticipated that Uniqlo will operate 37 stores across Canada, strengthening its footprint in British Columbia, Quebec, and Alberta, while reinforcing its presence in major urban and suburban shopping destinations.
In a previous Retail Insider story, Yuya Tanahashi, Chief Operating Officer of Uniqlo in Canada, credited the rapid growth of Uniqlo to its continued community focused approach.
“We are very grateful to our patrons in Canada and look forward to fostering more meaningful relationships with new customers. I am optimistic about our Canadian growth, and we look forward to bringing LifeWear to new markets.”
Uniqlo Place Ste-Foy and Galeries d’Anjou will offer UNIQLO’s iconic LifeWear products for men, women, and kids, such as Ultra-Light Down—warm, packable jackets perfect for layering or travel—and HEATTECH products—made of an innovative fabric that uses the moisture on your skin to generate heat. Other staples include high-quality Knitwear, including 100% cashmere, premium denim, t-shirts.
Uniqlo is a brand of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., a leading Japanese retail holding company with global headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. Uniqlo is the largest of eight brands in the Fast Retailing Group, the others being GU, Theory, PLST (Plus T), Comptoir des Cotonniers, Princesse tam.tam, J Brand and Helmut Lang. With global sales of approximately 2.77 trillion yen for the 2023 fiscal year ending August 31, 2023 (US $18.92 billion, calculated in yen using the end of August 2023 rate of $1 = 146.2 yen), Fast Retailing is one of the world’s largest apparel retail companies, and Uniqlo is Japan’s leading specialty retailer.
Uniqlo continues to open large-scale stores in some of the world’s most important cities and locations, as part of its ongoing efforts to solidify its status as a global brand. Today the company has a total of more than 2,400 Uniqlo stores across the world, including Japan, Asia, Europe and North America. The total number of stores across Fast Retailing’s brands is now close to 3,600.
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