Uniqlo, the Japanese fashion retailer, is challenging Inditex with the opening of its second shop in Madrid. Uniqlo opened its new flagship on Madrid’s Gran Vía on 6th October 2022, making it the company’s largest shop in the Spanish market, where it is committed to continuing to open more shops and grow.
This new shop, located on Gran Vía, reinforces the presence of the textile multinational in the Spanish capital, positioning the brand as a new shopping destination in one of the busiest and most commercial streets in Europe.
“Our four shops in Barcelona and the second in Madrid represent our commitment to expansion in the Spanish market, giving us the opportunity to offer our clothes to a large number of people. We are committed to Spain and our aim is to open shops in all the country’s key cities and locations,” said Taku Morikawa, CEO of Uniqlo Europe, in statements to Europa Press.
The Japanese company’s executive recognised the importance of this new opening in Spain for the company. “We believe it is essential to establish a presence in new countries, while continuing to expand our business in existing markets,” he stressed.
“Spain is a crucial new market for us as we look to expand our business in Europe. We believe that expansion in Spain at this time will offer great opportunities for Uniqlo,” Morikawa acknowledged.
The new shop, which is located close to direct competitors such as Zara, Mango and H&M, will offer “high quality clothing and expertise”, according to the CEO of Uniqlo Europe. “This is Uniqlo’s unique LifeWear concept. We are not a ‘fast fashion’ brand, but we offer high quality functional everyday and durable clothing at prices that can be considered good value for money,” he stressed.
How many UNIQLO stores are there in Spain? Uniqlo Gran Vía becomes the Japanese company’s sixth shop in the Spanish market, where it currently operates five other shops: PdG (2017), Glories (2017), Diagonal (2019) and La Maquinista (2021) in Barcelona and Uniqlo Serrano (2019) in Madrid.
Utme! and Repair Studio services, unique to its shops in Spain
The new Uniqlo store in Madrid is located in the emblematic building at Gran Vía 37, which originally housed the well-known Avenida cinema and the Pasapoga showroom, and which was previously occupied by the H&M fashion brand.
Uniqlo has preserved the brand’s recognisable style, characterised by combining simple, modern elements with historical elements of the building it occupies, such as the chandeliers, the mirrors, the stained glass windows that have been cleaned and recovered to give more light to the space, the marble staircases and coffered ceilings and the large iconic lamp in the Pasapoga club, the floor where the men’s line is located.
With more than 2,200 square metres of retail space spread over four floors, the shop offers customers the opportunity to shop the LifeWear men’s, women’s, children’s and baby collections.
The new Gran Vía shop has 18 self-checkout counters, the most in Spain, and 5traditional ones. In addition, the space will be committed to design, customisation and circularity and Uniqlo Gran Vía will offer for the first time in the Spanish market two exclusive areas for UTme! and Repair Studio services.
Through the UTme! service, customers will be able to instantly create their own personalised designs by combining photos, images and texts available in shop, while Re.UNIQLO Repair Studio aims to extend the life cycle of the brand’s products through the repair and tailoring services available along with other customisation options.
