GU, the Japanese apparel retailer and sister brand of Uniqlo, announced the opening of GU NY Soho, the brand’s first overseas flagship store, and its online store, in the fall of 2024.
GU NY Soho will offer women’s and men’s clothing across two floors and a selection of on-trend products, including shoes, bags and accessories. The online store with the same product lineup will launch simultaneously.
With a sales floor area of about 10,225 square feet, the store will showcase the GU brand, which has aspirations for strategic global expansion. The company’s New York City pop-up shop, which is currently open, is scheduled to close this summer, paving the way for the new chapter.
GU CEO Osamu Yunoki said, “For about a year and a half since opening our first pop-up store in the U.S. in the fall of 2022, we have been able to provide GU products to many customers, so we have great expectations for our business development in the U.S. We have applied what we learned from the pop-up store to establish a framework for product development and business operations at a global level, and we are extremely pleased to be officially opening a store in the United States this fall. We will also launch our online store at the same time and hope that even more customers will enjoy GU fashion.”
GU (pronounced as the letters “G” and “U”) was founded in 2006 as a sister brand of Uniqlo and operates approximately 470 stores in Asia, mainly in Japan; this is the first official opening of a store outside of Asia.
In September 2023, the company established a [roduct division in New York to promote product development at a global level. In the future, GU will strengthen local recruitment of designers, pattern makers and other positions to establish the foundation of a product development base, aiming for further business expansion.
Images courtesy GU
