Fashion retailer Uniqlo’s “global flagship” store has reopened on London’s Oxford Street with two extra floors and a raft of new features.

One year and nine days after it closed for a refit, Uniqlo’s flagship store at 311 Oxford Street has reopened with a selling area of 24,111 sq ft – double its previous footprint – and two additional floors.

Many of the elements that characterise the retailer’s flagships in locations such as Shanghai and New York are present, with red scrolling dot matrix displays, light boxes and mid-shop vitrines all featuring.

It is the top two floors that set this store apart however. These are dubbed the Uniqlo “Wearhouse” and are a complete change in tone and feel for those entering up to the store’s upper reaches. A roof terrace has also been created, where events will be staged.

Asked why the refurbishment had taken so long, European chief executive Takao Kuwahara, said: “There were some challenging construction issues, particularly with the lifts and escalators. One of the options would have been take the easy way, but we wanted this to be right.”   

Design was by long-standing incumbent Wonderwall with the fit-out by ISG.