Five years after Uniqlo closed its SF flagship location on Powell Street, the company’s new Market Street location is set to open its doors by October 9.Uniqlo is preparing to return to downtown San Francisco with a new two-story store in the former Old Navy space on Market Street, bringing the Ja panese apparel retailer back to the area more than five years after it closed its three-story Powell Street flagship, as SFGate reports.The new 20,315-square-foot store will carry men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing, and will mark Uniqlo’s second San Francisco location alongside its longtime Stonestown Galleria store. The company’s downtown return comes after the brand closed its Union Square flagship in 2021, during the pandemic-era wave of retail closures that also included giants like HM and Gap.Uniqlo opened the Powell Street store in 2012 as its first West Coast location, drawing huge crowds and plenty of attention to the Japanese retailer’s arrival in San Francisco. The company marked the opening with a zeppelin flying over the city and advertising on double-decker tour buses.“We are proud to return to San Francisco, a city and community that have long held a special place in UNIQLO’s story,” Fuminori Adachi, CEO of UNIQLO USA, said in a statement.The new store will also reportedly serve as a hub for several San Francisco-focused partnerships and collaborations. According to SFGate, Uniqlo plans to work with the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library on literary events, including One City One Book and the Night of Ideas Read-In, while providing 250 family admission vouchers to the Exploratorium and supporting four of its After Dark events.Local designs will appear on custom T-shirts and tote bags created with Muni, students at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, and artist fnnch. Per SFGate, the store’s advertising and displays will also feature San Francisco figures including Lower Grand Radio founder Alex Shen, artist Rewina Beshue, Unity Skateboarding founders Jeffrey Cheung and Gabriel Anthony Resurreccion Ramirez, and Ruth CEO and founder Valerie Chapman.The Market Street location will also include a Re.Uniqlo Studio, where customers can have clothing tailored or repaired, customize pieces with embroidery, or donate and recycle garments.SFist stopped by the site earlier this week and saw contract workers striking against Gray West Construction, the company handling the store’s renovation.Previously: Uniqlo Reportedly In Talks to Open a Downtown SF Store Again, Maybe in the Vacant Old Navy Space ...read more read less