Clothing retailer Uniqlo opens doors in Faneuil Hall Marketplace

Just in time for lightweight down jacket season, Uniqlo, a popular global Japan-based clothing retailer, opened its permanent downtown Boston location Friday in Faneuil Hall Marketplace, drawing crowds of customers to the 12,000-square-foot store.

The store spans two levels and seamlessly integrates itself into the unique architecture of the building, said Abby Grimm, general manager of the store.

“It’s hard enough to preserve a building that’s just standing there, but when you want to create something that’s completely new on the inside, you have a million other challenges to face,” she said. “We wanted to absolutely preserve the integrity of the building.”

Since the opening of its first store in Japan in 1984, Uniqlo has expanded globally, with more than 1,600 stores spanning 16 countries, according to a press release from the company. The Boston location replaced the temporary Uniqlo pop-up store, which opened last year. The store, which sells both men’s and women’s clothing, launched its opening weekend with free giveaways and live performances from local DJs and bands.

Keeping with the company mission, the Uniqlo store in Faneuil Hall focuses on both global and local influences, Uniqlo USA CEO Larry Meyer said in the release.

“Uniqlo is founded on the concept that local is global and global is local,” he said. “By immersing ourselves in the community through our very-localized advertising campaign, our partnership with the Red Sox Foundation, store design details and college campus integration, we hope to connect with the people who make Boston, Boston.”

With the store located directly along the Freedom Trail, Boston flavor can be felt through the store’s wall decorations and memorabilia. A baseball wall downstairs showcases Red Sox items, while historical photographs of Faneuil Hall line the hallway upstairs.

“All of the [fixtures] and all of the décor has been made to let the space shine and replicate what is the architectural essence of the building,” said Alessandra Antenucci, marketing director of Uniqlo USA. “These brick tables and … iron fixture tables are very much different from what other Uniqlo stores would ever have.”

The Boston store is the fifth one to be opened in Massachusetts by parent company Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., but the Boston location is different in that it is considered a specialty store, keeping its Japanese roots present in its merchandise while also designing the store around the architectural history of Boston, Antenucci said.

Uniqlo Faneuil Hall is the only such specialty store in the United States, and one of only two specialty stores in the world, with the other, Uniqlo Le Marais, located in Paris.

“This store is a specialty store for Uniqlo, so it looks and feels very different,” Antenucci said. “It’s very much curated for the culture of building and the city.”

Grimm said Uniqlo Faneuil Hall differs from the other Massachusetts stores in that it sells the company’s Lemaire collection, which has been incredibly successful in online sales.

“We were really excited to have it here, and you won’t be able to get it anywhere else in the Boston area,” she said.

Uniqlo’s other stores in Massachusetts are located in malls in Dedham, Newton, Natick and Peabody, according to their website.

“Our mission with this store was to really be a partnership with the city and show how we wanted to be a part of this city, to build that relationship with the city of Boston,” Grimm said.

Boston’s unique tradition has also served as a source of inspiration for curating the Faneuil Hall store, Grimm said.

“The marketplace has a character that’s completely different than from any other shopping space,” Grimm said. “The customer face is different, the architecture is different, the assortments you can purchase and the experience is completely different. We were looking for something unique to Boston, and I think that this is a really great place because it has a lot of tradition.”