Clothing retailer Uniqlo and electronics retailer Bic Camera Inc. together opened a giant new outlet dubbed Bicqlo in the Shinjuku shopping district on Thursday.
About 4,000 people lined up before the outlet opened at 9:45 a.m. In front of the eight-story building, a number of "chindon-ya," or traditional musicians in colorful kimono, played Bicqlo's theme song to lure shoppers in.
"I hope I can launch similar outlets in New York and Paris," Fast Retailing Co. Chairman, President and CEO Tadashi Yanai said at the opening ceremony.
Asked what he thinks about the decline in visitors from China since anti-Japan protests flared earlier this month in Beijing, Shanghai and many other cities, Yanai told reporters: "I want tourists from China as well as other countries to come visit our store."
A total of 480 employees staff the new outlet, including some who speak English, Chinese or Korean.
At about 22,000 sq. meters, it is the second-largest Uniqlo outlet in the country, after the one in the Ginza district. Uniqlo occupies the first three floors, while Bic Camera has three underground floors and the fourth through eighth floors, as well as a presence on the first floor.
"We want to sell each other's goods on each other's floor," said Bic Camera President Hiroyuki Miyajima.
For example on the first floor, mannequins wearing Uniplo down jackets and colorful pants hold cameras and smartphones and pose with vacuum cleaners and kettles.
