It’s 10:15 a.m. and about 45 minutes until the grand opening of the first Uniqlo store in Phoenix Market City in Mumbai, India. A few dozen people are already queuing, but fewer than the first hundred who are promised a special Mumbai bag. Those waiting are greeted by a lady with a microphone and are assured that the opening will take place on time.
Rika Kondo, who arrived at 9:15 a.m., is first in line: “I’m happy; “Uniqlo is Japan’s well-known brand and I’m excited about the opening,” says the Japanese woman in an interview with FashionUnited. She has been living in Mumbai for two years and is looking forward to having a piece of home in the city on the Arabian Sea. As a mother of two small children, she appreciates the good fabric quality of the brand’s baby clothes.
Natasha from Mumbai is third in line. She has been shopping at Uniqlo using the app for a year and also visited a branch in Delhi once. She is thrilled that there is now a store in Mumbai. “A friend works for Uniqlo, so I heard a lot and got to know the brand,” she says. “The materials are fantastic; it’s a real utility brand.”
To pass the last half hour, those waiting are now asked to answer a few questions about Uniqlo – what the T-shirt lines are called, how many stores the brand has in India and the like. Correct answers are rewarded with a tote bag. The crowd has now grown by a few dozen people.
There are only a few minutes left until the opening and the brand’s executives and employees are getting ready for the ceremonial ribbon cutting. According to Japanese tradition, the first customer in line is always asked to be there, so Rika is given one of the scissors.
“Namaste. Main Uniqlo ke pehle store opening Mumbai me bahut excited hoon,” greets Uniqlo India CEO Tomohiko Be the crowd in Hindi, expressing his excitement about opening the first store in Mumbai. The crowd, which has now grown to around 60 people, expresses their appreciation by applauding.
After a few more words of welcome and appreciation, the ribbon is cut and the store officially opens – at 10:58 a.m. For Mumbai, which falls in the IST time zone and interprets this as “Indian stretchable time”, this is a new record in terms of punctuality. That must be the Japanese influence. The employees take their seats while the customers enter the store in an orderly row.
Annika also comes from Mumbai. She usually chooses Indian brands, but she has shopped online at Uniqlo. “I have for the first time [von Uniqlo] Heard through a friend who lives in Singapore. She gave me something as a gift and I fell in love with the product,” she says, citing the soft fabric as a plus. In Mumbai’s hot and humid climate, she likes the products that are specifically designed for this. Today she is prepared and has looked at the products she likes online before finding them in the store and trying them on.
Inside, customers can be seen holding up items of clothing, touching the material or asking questions of the eager sales staff – one employee even pulls out a tape measure and checks the length of a pant leg for a customer.
“We really want to make sure customers have a good experience. You are the focus. It’s not just about selling clothes,” explains Kenji Inoue, CFO of Uniqlo India, who joined the sellers. When FashionUnited asked whether this practical approach was unusual, he shook his head. “Not in Japan,” he says, revealing that even CEO Sei works from the store three days a week. “It’s important to see on site what works and what doesn’t,” he says.
As if on cue, a lady with a stroller asks Inoue about the men’s department, which is one floor below. When he has to answer the question as to whether there is an elevator in the store, he not only personally takes the customer outside to the elevators, but also accompanies her downstairs and carries her bags.
It’s around 11:30 a.m. and the first customers have made their way to the checkouts. As the morning progresses, the line gets longer and longer, and since it’s the first day, things take time. Those who are used to the easy navigation of the e-commerce website are unhappy with the delay, but employees assure that it will be faster in the future.
Overall, a promising start for Uniqlo’s appearance in Mumbai. Pritesh, who came to know about the brand through social media, is amazed at the amount of winter clothes in the store. “This is based on sales statistics from our Mumbai-based e-commerce website,” says Nidhi Rastogi, marketing director, Uniqlo India. “People in Mumbai love to travel and buy a lot of winter clothes.”
Rastogi is happy with the crowds. Talking about the launch in Delhi and Mumbai, she notes that four years ago the brand awareness was not as high as it is today, so there was more foot traffic in Delhi who happened to stumble upon the brand, while people in Mumbai know the brand very well and consciously seek it out. Many have even been eagerly waiting for a presence in the city.
Dania, Khushi and Talia, for example, traveled from a further part of the city especially for the opening. They follow the brand on Instagram and were well informed about the opening. “I have already bought things from Uniqlo abroad. I like the quality, the material and the simplicity,” says Dania. These are basics that the three of them want to buy and that they value because of their longevity. “The prices are a little higher than elsewhere, but it’s worth it,” says Talia. “It’s a good investment,” agrees Khushi.
Now it remains to be seen whether Mumbai was a good investment for Uniqlo and whether the brand can continue to provide value to its customers.
The next store will open on October 20 at Oberoi Mall in Mumbai.