UPDATE: Uniqlo's Denver opening pushed back
Construction is still underway at Uniqlo's store along the 16th Street Mall, but the Japanese clothing retailer is already looking for employees to "provide customer service that Denver has never seen before."
Uniqlo needs to hire about 90 workers before its Sept. 30 opening at the Denver Pavilions, store manager Rolena Richardson said Friday. The company is accepting applications through its website.
Richardson aims to hire 75 part-time workers, 12 full-time and an assistant store manager. The bulk of the employees will be sales associates, but the store is also looking for a few supervisors in training.
On average, pay at Uniqlo starts above $10 per hour, according to the job recruiting site Glassdoor. Uniqlo employees are tempted to spend their pay in store with a 30 percent discount, Richardson said.
Since joining Uniqlo in 2012, Richardson has helped open three other stores in the U.S. The Colorado-native arrived in Denver this week to introduce the city to Uniqlo's simple, quality clothing.
"It's fashionable clothing, but it's not going to go out of style next season," Richardson said, adding that the brand is like a more affordable J. Crew.
Uniqlo shifted from a textiles company to clothing retailer in the 1980s. Today the company is the world's fourth largest seller of private label apparel behind Spanish-based Zara, Sweden-based H&M and U.S.-based Limited Brands.
Limited Brands owns a little lingerie company you might have heard of called Victoria's Secret.
Victoria's Secret, H&M, GAP, American Eagle and other private label businesses control the entire clothes-making process from the procurement of materials to the selling of items.
Partly because of its affordability, Uniqlo has a dedicated following of young professionals. The company is operating 46 stores in nine states.
The store at the 16th Street Mall will be Uniqlo's first store in Colorado.
"It's like Denver getting its first Apple store," Richardson said. "Apple changed how we interacted and bought technology."
Uniqlo plans to do the same with clothes, she said.
Business & data reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached via email at [email protected] or twitter.com/adriandgarcia.
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