Uniqlo to open in former Barnes & Noble space in Downtown Crossing

A long-vacant building in the Downtown Crossing section of Boston is set to become the home of Uniqlo, a Japanese fashion chain, according to the Boston Business Journal.

Uniqlo will take over the Washington Street storefront once occupied by the Barnes & Noble bookstore, which vacated the building nearly two decades ago.

The announcement about the Downtown Crossing location included other new locations in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and elsewhere, according to Fast Company, which first reported the retailer’s expansion.

Uniqlo has another Boston location on Newbury Street and outlets in Natick, Chestnut Hill, Braintree and Burlington.

Before the pandemic, Downtown Crossing area businesses relied on area office workers and tourists, making the new Uniqlo location a boon to the neighborhood.

The area is making progress rebounding in terms of vacancy rate, foot traffic and crime post-pandemic, Michael Nichols, president of the Downtown Boston Alliance, said at a downtown business event on Sept. 24.

“We did avoid the doom loop, if that were to be a real thing,” he said.

While office workers have not returned five days a week, they are returning to the office for part of the week. However, tourism has exceeded pre-pandemic levels, Nichols said.

Foot traffic in total remains down from 2019, he said, but is up significantly from the past few years.

The retail vacancies dropped to 65 compared to 125 in 2023, he said. But the vacancy rate still stands at 27%. Storefronts along Washington Street have the lowest vacancy rate. Although some spaces have for-lease signs posted, tenants have already signed leases, he added.

Still, the vacancy rate is high when compared to the Back Bay, Seaport and the Boston area at large.

Nichols and other speakers at the Sept. 24th business event said that building housing in the downtown area is key to its economic future.

The new Uniqlo will be located at 399 Washington Street, across from other retailers such as Primark, T.J. Maxx, Old Navy, Marshalls and Macy’s.

Hudson Group and Assembly Investments purchased the 76,000-square-foot building at 399 Washington Street in March for $13 million, according to Banker & Tradesman. In what has become a post-pandemic trend in declining real estate value, the building last sold for $63 million in 2017.

“We couldn’t be happier with Uniqlo as a steward for this historic retail space that has been occupied by giants like B.W. Currier, Talbot’s, W.T. Grant and Barnes & Noble,” Noam Ron, a partner at the Hudson Group, told the Boston Business Journal. Potential tenants have also shown interest in upstairs office suites, he said.

The other new Uniqlo locations, according to Fast Company, include:

New YorkBrooklyn: WilliamsburgManhattan: Union SquareManhattan: Bryant Park, Fifth AvenueManhattan: World Trade CenterIllinoisChicago: 600 N. Michigan AvenueChicago: Oakbrook MallCaliforniaSan Francisco: 801 Market StreetMaryland Washington State Seattle area: Issaquah CommonsWashington, D.C.Georgetown Park: 3262 M Street NW