Muji

this store has such great, fun items with an emphasis on understated japaneses design. one of my favorite purchases is the london block set that comes in it’s own bag. this store is chock full of fun little items you never even knew you needed!

I love Muji. It’s like someone decided to invent all the organizational things you didn’t know you needed with clean lines.
I especially love this Muji because it’s not as crowded as their other stores since it’s on a smaller street and all the people who work there are extra nice. I recently got some furniture delivered by ordering in store. The staff were very helpful and friendly. I’m always happy with all my Muji purchases.

Diesen Laden gibt es in einigen Stadtteilen Londons. ANgeboten werden ein Mix aus Haushaltsartikeln, Deko und Bürobedarf. Alles sehr schlicht und stylisch. In Japan ist die Marke bereits kult. Netter Laden, wenn man auf das Design steht. Eigentlich brauht man die Sachen ja nicht wirklich.

Before moving back to London, I lived in a suburban area of the US for about three years. While there, I got real accustomed to relying on my car. I’m not talking about the convenience of owning a vehicle to get around as I pleased. In fact, I’m quite content to leave the driving to public transport and the rare taxi, and to get back in the habit of walking most places. What I got so used to and now dearly miss was simply having a car for tossing in and stowing my crap.
Now that I’m back to being a pedestrian, I gotta carry all that potentially necessary stuff on my person and it’s a hassle. What’s especially a hassle is toting round a pocketful of coins, which is inevitable when dealing with British currency. I mean, if I buy something for just a few quid or less, and pay with a £10 or £20 bill, I gotta deal with all those heavy coins in my front pocket pockets already filled with keys, wallet, travel card, mobile phone, etc. I don’t like full pockets. I feel like it makes me look goofier than I probably already do. Besides, stuffing my hands in empty pockets is one of those little comforts in life for me.
Last time I lived in London, I was working on a graduate degree, so I seemed to always have my backpack slung over my shoulder. I just threw everything in there. These days, taking a backpack with my every time I need to step out, just won’t cut it. A backpack often gets in the way and, on warm days, leaves me with a sweaty back and underarms.
So, I went to Muji and purchased a small three-​compartment bag with a shoulder strap. Plain and black, it’s sort of like a camera bag only a little thinner and broader. Yeah, I bought a man bag hardly a degree away from a purse. Everything I need to carry round with me fits in it and it hangs from my shoulder without taking up too much space. No more digging through jeans’ pocket for 50p, I got me a readily accessible man bag.

I don’t quite understand Muji. What I mean to say is, there’s so much going on it’s hard to decipher what it actually is. Upstairs is a novelty stationers (although they do seem to have some useful items), come home appliance store, come knickknack store. Downstairs on the other hand is a clothing store, which is quite good for basic things like white shirts (which for some reason are incredibly hard to find), but if you want to be a hipster about town, you may want to think twice.
My point is that there seems to very little sense of direction in Muji, as you can tell from the somewhat blasé customers it seems to attract. It’s too small to accommodate the higher-​class department store shtick (that torch obviously being held by places like Fenwicks… etc). Having said this there is a good clean atmosphere here, and it can be quite fun to look around… I just don’t really know what I’m looking for when I’m their.

This is a great shop! I am a big fan of the practical and simple products muji sell. It is also great for gifts and this branch is spacious enough to accomodate plenty of peaple with its two floors. There is also a great range of clothes in this particular shop. Simple but well made. Just as the rest of the stock.

Japanese translating simplicity in detail and of the finest quality. These designers are trend setters in technology even when it comes to stationary. Every freaking detail is thought of when conceptualising a product.
From stationary, art & craft material, household furniture and accessories to skin care products and even a growing fashion range, Muji has set its foot in the land of not-​the-​rising-​sun very solidly. This store has a friendly staff and very cool service as all the other branches.

Muji is an awesome little shop but I felt that it had a bit of an identity disorder that I noticed as soon as I walked in. The music playing in the background was strictly of the Venetian sort — canals, gondolas, etc. But this seems a small stick to beat a marvellous shop with.
Their are loads of excellent gift ideas here, alot with Japanese themes or roots. I especially like the ‘city in a bag’ concept, where tiny pinewood structures of a city’s most distinguishing features are all found inside a small felt bag (London — Big Ben, double decker bus. Paris — Eiffel Tower and cowardice (this is a joke)). There are loads of cool clocks as well, an unusual branch to go into but hey, the world needs clocks. Especially if they are as stylish as they are here! The basement floor has top quality clothes on sale, for both guys and girls. The staff are friendly as well, smiling and assisting. For Christmas, the place has come into it’s own, with the cost-​cutting and deal making rife here. A great place for gifts.

I have decided that Muji has just become my favourite store of the moment. Maybe it is because I am just a little bit of a geek when it comes to home wear, but I love sifting through the shop and examining the clever storage devices and gadgets. Lately I have been getting excited about the weather stations, the solar chargers, the clever international multi-​adapters, the shower radios, the city pop-​up cards, the wall-​mounted CD players, the wind-​up walkie talkies, the fair trade cotton sheets and so much more. I will admit that I have recently been suffering from a huge obsession with anything even remotely Japanese and this has obviously played a huge part in my love affair with Muji — but it’s just so clever I doubt many people could resist.
Muji will definitely be one of my top shopping destinations for Christmas gifts this year.

This is one of the larger Muji stores and enjoyable for a browse around. Muji is one of those stores that you either love or hate-​personally I waver between thinking much of it wildly over-​priced and yet desperately coveting some of those tiny little pots that would stream-​line my overnight bag to perfection. The little plastic sprays which can be filled with mineral water are particularly enchanting.
One of the best buys is the lap-​top cases, which at around £25 are not expensive and look ruggedly anonymous in a cool urban way.
I have yet to find anyone who can wear the rather dreary clothes, but for cosmetic brushes and mirrors they reign supreme-​giving a Clinique style no-​fuss look at a fraction of the price asked by the Molton Browne’s of the make-​up industry.
Flip-​flops and house slippers are ubiquitous in all Muji shops.