As Downtown LA continues to chug along with developments after developments, there’s still at least one sorely missing ingredient lacking that’s needed in order for DTLA to become a well-rounded city center. Everything else seems to be falling into place. For example, we’ve been getting the trendy hotels, like the stunning NoMad, that helps drive more tourism into downtown; a full range of eateries opening from Bavel to Chik-Fil-A that cater to everyone’s tastes and budgets; and a continued residential boom that has resulted in a sea of new high-rises sprouting up in South Park and other parts of downtown. However, with all that being said, we’re still seeing Downtown LA struggle when it comes to forming a contiguous retail district that is critical for attracting more people downtown, especially on the weekends when retail hubs like Santa Monica, Glendale, and Pasadena are teeming with life. So it’s definitely newsworthy to me to see that one of the most popular fast fashion retailers, Uniqlo, has signed a lease at The Bloc that will add more oomph into our fledgling retail scene.

A new “Merchandising Plan” provided by The Bloc shows that Uniqlo has successfully signed a lease to occupy one of the most coveted retail spaces at The Bloc property. With eight existing locations in the LA area, the Japanese fast fashion retailer is slated to open in a two-story retail space — at approximately 15,000 square feet — overlooking the corner of 7th and Flower Street. Although this won’t be the largest store in LA (that title goes to the 30,000 square foot Beverly Center location), it will nonetheless be considered one of the store’s major flagship locations in LA with a much more sophisticated urban address here in exciting Downtown LA.

In a deal that took over a year to complete (The Bloc and Uniqlo began discussions as early as March 2017), it is now going to be one of The Bloc’s key anchor tenants that will really help put the struggling retail shopping center back on the map. Located in the Financial District just a block away from the extremely successful FIGat7th, this was the critical component needed (a well-established popular mainstream retailer) to help tie together The Bloc with FIGat7th as synergistic retail neighbors that will ultimately help change the public’s perception of Downtown LA into an attractive shopping destination able to compete with other retail hubs in the region like Santa Monica or Pasadena.

For me personally, I’ve been wanting Uniqlo to open in Downtown LA for as long as I can remember. You may recall that I wrote about Uniqlo (and TopShop) planning to come to the Los Angeles market back in Sept 2011, so it’s a small dream come true to see it finally happen.

No word yet on when exactly the store will open, but my guess would be sometime by spring of 2019.

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