Uniqlo

At first glance, this store looks so much bigger than the Bridgewater store, and maybe it is. Everything looked to be in order, but I don’t care for the tall fixtures on the floor. It limits visibility if you are in need of help, and I imagine it can’t be good for loss prevention. We weren’t greeted by anyone at any point. Luckily, this was not my first time visiting UNIQLO, so I knew how to find what I was looking for pretty quickly. I love the quality of their clothing and accessories. And it’s getting pretty cold, but their Heattech line has helped to keep me warm and comfy when outside. I also love their scarves. There’s much to love about this company, but this store should be more aware of the customers that enter and are browsing their store.

My favorite at Uniqlo are ultra light down vest, jacket and I’m really happy to have the store in nearest shopping mall“Menlo park mall”, no longer wait to purchase till trip to Japan. I tried several vests for women & men at the store since size in Japan is smaller than US («L“in US means «XL» in Japan) and chose online order for specific color, size and in-​store pickup for this winter.
GrandMa in Japan shipped Uniqlo’s heat tech underwear as the Xmas gift for last year and they becomes my teen age boy’s favorite. Thermo underwear with ultra light down jacket works best for thin layer of outfits even in cold NJ winter.

Uniqlo is where I go for affordable, high quality basics. Their heat tech series is great as long underwear. The layer is thin and doesn’t add bulk. I have a turtleneck, several leggings, some socks and some underwear that have all stood the test of time.
I’ve wanted their ultra light down jacket ever since I tried it on at the flagship store on Fifth Avenue a few years ago, and finally went to get it today. Unfortunately, they only had the waist length ULDs, and I wanted the long one. It seems they only recently stopped carrying it at this particular store and shipped their remaining stock to another store. I didn’t get the details of what store because I thought it’d just buy it online. But I went home to find out that it was sold out in my size. Ergh.
So now I’m officially on a wild goose chase for a long uniqlo ultra light down jacket. I should’ve just bought it that day I tried it on. I wanted to «use up» my existing jacket first, even though it was bulky and left my lower body cold. So I toughed it out for another couple of seasons until the zipper started wearing out.
Anyway I tried on another long jacket that might be ok. This new jacket has a matte fabric and a diamond batting, in contrast to the shiny trash bag number that has been their signature for the last several years. I need to think about it… I’ve had that ULD slated as my next winter coat for such a long time that I’m not going to just drop the idea in a day.
Their new «seamless» jacket was also pretty good. This jacket is very trim for a down jacket. However I don’t technically need a short jacket so I passed (will probably go back in two years and repeat history). There’s a long version online, but it was sold out.
I guess if you try something on at uniqlo that you like and that fits, just get it. It may not be in stock online. They do have sales, though, so that’s another thing to watch out for once you know what you want.
CREWNECKS
I also tried on a few heat tech crewnecks today. I found that a size 11 kid’s size fits me better than any of the adult sizes. The shoulders on the «regular» t-​shirts are too broad. In this case, the joke’s on them because the kids sizes are a few dollars less. Though on the other hand, they only had three colors available online– white, pink, and baby blue– so I wasn’t actually able to fill all the t-​shirt gaps in my wardrobe.
In general with clothing in the US, t-​shirts are often sliding off my shoulders or cut too low. Another problem is that sleeves are too long –I was tempted to buy a cozy fleece lined hooded sweatshirt today, but fortunately looking at the long sleeves, I was able to convince myself to refrain from purchasing this unnecessary wardrobe item (I have tons of sweatshirts and sweaters).

Somehow, one of my favorite retailers being located in the customer-​service-​deficient dump that is Menlo Park Mall makes me depressed, but I’m still happy that it’s there because of the new ship-​to-​store feature for online purchases. That being said, the In-​Store Pickup is an not entirely seamless service – at least not for this location, since the feature is new and because the store associates still need to spend time manually rummaging through inventory to find a single package. The young associate who went scavenging for my order in the backroom took about 10 minutes but was affable and very apologetic about the delay.
As for the actual store itself, I would have to say that this location is the smallest Uniqlo store I have ever visited that is not in a train station, in an airport, or is a pop-​up store. Understandably, the selection really pales in comparison to that of the Garden State Plaza store, any of the NYC stores, or the online store – so I can only see myself visiting this location on occasion. The Simon Malls website says the closest entrance is entrance D by B&N, but I would argue that entrance C on the lower level by Nordstrom is better because of parking availability.

Men shirts are slim cut beautifully, but the men’s shirt selection is small.
We prefer the Uniqlo store in SoHo, which has a wide selection for all genders.

I had an annoying experience shopping here. I had to purchase a jacket for a family member with a leftover store credit. First, I asked two staff members for assistance in finding a larger size. Their terse response of «we don’t carry that size in-​store» made me feel like UNIQLO doesn’t care to make all people feel welcome. Later during my trip, I asked another staff member where I could find inexpensive non-​size dependent accessories to finish off my store credit, and she didn’t seem to understand the gist of what I was saying. All-​in-​all, it was a shopping experience that reminded me of why I dislike corporate stores and shopping malls.

This review is for the actual store, not the clothes cause I have yet to actually wear them. Super neat and organized (and color-​coded! #makingmybrainsohappy) and an easy-​to-​navigate layout. The dressing room attendant guy was so polite and friendly and went out of his way to help me find my size. There was only one cashier on a fairly busy Sunday morning, but she was also very polite and apologetic. Great location!

…Let’s face it folks… Americans are fat and as fat people, dangling inexpensive, well made and designed, colorful, fashionable apparel in front of us and then limiting your largest size to an Asian XL… is just cruel.
Now I’m of average build and could benefit from losing a few pounds but by no means obese or even fat, have broad shoulders and an actual butt but find their XL to be almost comical in it’s vain attempt to cover my back and I will not even consider fitting their jeans in fear of a embarrassing bodily injury.
Uniqlo’s sizes tend to favor the typical Japanese male more than the majority of men strolling the average New Jersey mall. and for that they lose 2 stars.
Now I remember when Uniqlo first appeared in Menlo Park mall in the 90’s and closed soon after, conceivably due to lack of sales, today’s visit saw the bulk of shoppers being of Asian decent so perhaps timing is everything.
Ironically the majority of store personnel I encountered today is most assuredly purchasing their work clothes elsewhere in the mall simply because they have little choice but to.

I love this place. An army of cheerful staff will guide you though a selection of clothes that span the rainbow. They have a preppy basic look that goes with everything. Plus they have clothes that flatter slim folks.