Uniqlo Is Back in Downtown San Francisco With Its Biggest West Coast Store

Uniqlo reopened in downtown San Francisco on Friday, filling a long-empty storefront at 801 Market St., at the corner of Fourth Street. The two-story, 20,000-square-foot store is the Japanese clothing chain's largest on the West Coast, according to KTVU and CBS San Francisco, and it sits in the space Old Navy once occupied.

The brand closed its Powell Street store in 2021, one of many retailers that pulled out of the Union Square area during the pandemic. On opening day, KTVU reported, lines wrapped around the block toward Mission and Fifth streets.

Jobs and local tie-ins

The mayor's office said the store will employ more than 80 people; NBC Bay Area put the figure at nearly 100 jobs. The shop carries San Francisco-themed clothing sold only at this location, including designs made with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, students at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, and local artists fnnch and Lauren Martin, according to the city's announcement.

Uniqlo also worked with the Exploratorium to create 250 family admission vouchers for underserved communities, the city said.

"Uniqlo's return to San Francisco is a huge vote of confidence for Market Street and downtown," District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey said in the city's release. Mayor Daniel Lurie wrote on X that the company "has followed our city's momentum and recovery" in deciding to come back.

If you go this weekend

Friday's free street festival on Ellis Street included more than 30 Bay Area musicians, artists, institutions and businesses, KTVU reported, along with taiko drumming and giveaways. The art cubes on Market Street stay up through the weekend. According to the festival's schedule, the store is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 11. The Powell Street BART and Muni station is about a block away.

The opening adds to a string of new retail arrivals in the Union Square and Yerba Buena area that city officials have pointed to as signs of downtown's recovery, though many storefronts along that stretch of Market Street remain vacant.