In the Mood for Japanese Fab - Uniqlo + Muji

Jacket: Zara / Skirt: Brandy Meville

Ever since the grand openings of Muji and Uniqlo in SF recently, the two have definitely been hot topics among SF's hip crowd. This past weekend I had the chance to stop by both.

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Muji opened their first store on the West Coast a couple weeks ago and I was surprised by their store location choice. It is located in a fairly low-key neighborhood called SOMA, a neighborhood that still seems to be trying to establish its identity and houses only a few retail stores. Muji's clean white square store with the dark red accent definitely stands out from afar. But on the other hand, this low-key, almost invisible design matches the brand's modest and minimal style.




The two-story store is not huge but very well planned out. Half of the first floor has some clothing and winter accessories. The other half is for stationeries.

Register on the first floor

Muji's style is very minimal.

Stationeries

The second floor is designated for furniture and other various house-hold items such as kitchenware, indoor slippers, and hangers. No matter the product though, everything is displayed beautifully.

Got some goodies

The store itself is a pleasure to visit. You can find some well-made, clean-cut wear and pick up some minimalistic notebooks for work or school. If you have some extra time, go upstairs and check out the wonderful Japanese version of Ikea with some nice quality stuff. 

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It was super exciting when I heard that Uniqlo chose to open their first US store outside of Manhattan in SF earlier this year. Their marketing also chose to partner with the most famous internet cat, Maru, to promote this opening. (This Japanese brand sure knows what's cute. This holiday season they teamed up with Pusheen to spread more holiday cheer.) The store is conviniently located in downtown SF, near the Powell Street cable car turnaround. The store display is flashy and very well-lit.

I went to the SF store with the same expectation from my NY SOHO Uniqlo experience, but I was let down. Seems like there are less collections in the SF store for both men and women compared to what I remembered from my NY visit. The store itself also seems more ordinary than trendy. But I'm still happy that there is a Uniqlo in SF since it is one of my go-to brands for some fairly priced basics and their heat-tech undershirts are great for winter layers. If you haven't noticed, I am a huge fan of Uniqlo's knee-high socks and tights.