Crowd of people in front of Uniqlo Tokyo just before the store opens at 11am
On November 23rd, UNIQLO released a collaboration collection with British brand ANYA HINDMARCH. Due to the overwhelming response, the number of stores selling all products was suddenly reduced by 51 stores in Japan, narrowing it down to 20 stores.As this collaboration was made possible, the server on the e-commerce site was down from 9 a.m. until after noon, making it difficult to connect. The 23rd is the first day of the annual “Uniqlo Thanksgiving”, a public holiday, and also coincides with the release date of children’s room wear in collaboration with “Chikawa x Sanrio Characters.” The store was very busy right after it opened.
At Uniqlo Tokyo in Ginza, Tokyo, numbered tickets will be distributed starting at 8 a.m. before the store opens at 11 a.m. According to the staff, there were about 40 people in line at that time. A woman in her 40s from Kitasenju, who had been in line since 7 a.m. and was one of the first in line, said, “When we arrived, there were about 10 people in line.My two older sisters were also checking out EC today, but… They say they can’t connect.I want to buy all 9 types and take them home.” A woman in her 50s who was also in the lead group said that she was a fan of Anya, and she showed me her wallet. This is the first time for both of them to line up to purchase UNIQLO collaboration items. “If it was a weekday, I wouldn’t have come because I have work. Today is a holiday,” they said in unison. Women in their 40s and 50s like them are the main characters in this procession.
At the store 40 minutes before the store opens, in addition to the line for numbered tickets for Anya, there is also a line waiting for Chikawa. Furthermore, as the opening time approached, there were lines for numbered tickets, lines waiting for the store to open with numbered tickets, and lines for people waiting for the store to open, and the front of the store became crowded as shown in the photo. Among them, more than a dozen people were seen carrying shopping bags (2,750 yen) made in collaboration with Anya Hindmarch and Seijo Ishii, which were also released today.
Many customers visit “Seijo Ishii”
A woman bought a shopping bag made in collaboration with Anya at Seijo Ishii in Oimachi and then rushed to Ginza.
A woman who came to Ginza after buying a shopping bag at Seijo Ishii in Oimachi said, “Anya has several leather accessories.” She commented, “I’m happy to be able to buy items from my favorite brands at affordable prices that can only be found at UNIQLO.” A man in his 40s, a real estate company employee, also rushed in after buying a bag at Seijo Ishii in Hamacho. “My wife likes Anya and has several bags.The Anya alone had a great response, but with the first day of Thanksgiving and the release of Chiikawa, we decided it would still be possible to keep people lining up. UNIQLO is amazing.” However, on SNS, there are also noticeable resentments from people who were unable to buy the products they wanted because the e-commerce server was down, asking, “Why did you concentrate on this day?”
When “UNIQLO Tokyo” opened at 11 o’clock, there was some minor confusion such as “I couldn’t figure out where to distribute numbered tickets”, but there was no major confusion like the one that occurred during the “+J” revival season where fixtures were knocked over. Around 11:30, there was an announcement that the numbered tickets for that day had already run out. When the reporter entered the sales area on the fourth floor with a numbered ticket for the 12:00-12:10 time slot one hour after the sale started, the green packable tote bag (1,990 yen) was already sold out. This collaboration focuses on knitwear, but when you think of “Anya”, you probably think of bags. In terms of knitwear, the lamb sweater, which costs 3,990 yen, is naturally more popular than the cashmere, which costs 12,900 yen. While the reporter was shopping, the display fixtures in front of him kept getting smaller and smaller.
As of 1:30 p.m., all gloves and socks are sold out on the e-commerce site, with the exception of some colors and sizes.
