Uniqlo is slated to open at 801 Market St. next summer. 

A popular clothing store is making a comeback to downtown San Francisco five years after pulling out of its three-story flagship space on Powell Street during the pandemic.

Japanese apparel designer and retailer Uniqlo plans to open a new flagship space just a couple of blocks away on the corner of Market and 4th streets, filling the void left behind by Old Navy, which closed in 2023. The location is one of 11 new stores the brand plans to open next year, including four in New York City and two in Chicago. Other outposts are planned for Boston; Annapolis, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; and Seattle. The San Francisco location is slated to open sometime “in the latter half of Summer 2026,” a spokesperson for the retailer confirmed with SFGATE in an email.

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In a Monday news release, Uniqlo said its expansion comes 20 years after opening its first global flagship store outside of Japan in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, and that the new locations in San Francisco and Chicago will become the retailer’s first flagship stores outside of New York.

“2026 marks an exciting next chapter for UNIQLO in the U.S.,” Uniqlo USA CEO Fuminori Adachi said in the news release. “These new stores are not only a milestone of our growth, but a........

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