We just learned that Japanese retailer Uniqlo is headed to the Plaza Escuela shopping center at Locust Street and Olympic Boulevard. We hear Equity One's Will Heidel handled the deal, about 5,700 SF. The retailer will sit next to The Container Store and Ann Taylor Loft. Uniqlos are few and far between in the states, making it more of a destination store for slim-fitting shirts and pants. Its first flag on the West Coast was planted in Union Square (above).
We checked in with retail expert John Cumbelich, who calls Uniqlo the Gap of Asia (that's a bold statement, considering Gap's HQ'd here). He says it's the most "significant" retail lease in the past quarter or so in the downtown Walnut Creek area. There are not a lot of new blocks of space and opportunities for retailers at the moment, he notes. He's currently in pre-leasing mode at three projects under development in Walnut Creek (The Village, The Orchards at Walnut Creek, and 1500 Walnut Creek).
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