More than 2,500 people turned up for the store’s opening at Fahrenheit 88 in Bukit Bintang here, this morning. One shopper had even camped overnight at the shopping mall’s entrance.
“Only the first 500 people in line can win the prize so I arrived here extra early,” said the shopper, identified only as Calvin, who was at Fahrenheit since 10pm yesterday.
Other shoppers started showing up as early as 6am this morning to be among Uniqlo’s first customers, who stand a chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Tokyo, Japan.
One Uniqlo fan said, “I used to have to travel to Singapore, Hong Kong and London to buy a pair of Uniqlo jeans but it is so convenient now,” adding that she purchased her first Uniqlo product while on vacation in Hong Kong last year.
Many who queued up today said they were not aware of the launch until recently, adding that social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter played a big role in building the hype.
Yesterday, Uniqlo was one of the top trending topics on micro-blogging service Twitter, despite the fact that the country was on the eve of two by-elections.
“Until last night, I had never heard of the brand Uniqlo until I read about it via Facebook,” said one shopper.
“Being an avid shopper, it is only natural to check out the big launch,” said another shopper who took leave from work to attend the opening today.
When asked how she managed to make it to the launch, university student Nicole Lai said, “Uniqlo could not have opened on a better day because it is Deepavali tomorrow and my school took an extra day off.
“Its products are durable, stylish and affordable,” she added.
Many shoppers left with bags-full of products shortly after Uniqlo opened its doors at 11am, signalling a promising start to the fashion giant’s venture into the Malaysian market.
Part of the store’s opening promotion included a free tote bag for every shopper who spent RM200 or more. Today, nearly all who queued up earlier walked out of the store holding tote bags.
“Uniqlo has slashed RM30 off many products for two weeks beginning today, so I intend to visit again soon and bring my friends along,” said one satisfied customer, who spent almost RM800 today.
Most of the early customers were students — aged 18-24 — with just a couple of older fashionistas in the crowd. When asked how much they had brought to spend at the store, the average answer was RM500.
Uniqlo — which stands for Unique Clothing — is a popular fashion retailer in Japan and has over 800 outlets in 11 countries. It is well-known for casual wear.
At its Taiwan opening last month, about 3,000 people queued up.
Its Malaysian branch, which opened today, is the largest in South-East Asia.
