Looking for a few basic T-shirts in an array of different colors? Thanks to Japanese clothing company Uniqlo, you could soon purchase your shirts from a vending machine in a mall or airport. Uniqlo specializes in offering casual, affordable clothing that is simple yet fashion-forward. Although the company is hugely popular in its home country of Japan, it’s struggled to gain a secure foothold in the U.S. This can be attributed in large part to changing retail habits among American consumers.
That’s why Uniqlo is trying something new—offering consumers the opportunity to buy clothes from vending machines, rather than its massive flagship stores in major cities. The “Uniqlo To Go” vending machines will be stocked with a number of the company’s most popular items, including lightweight down jackets and heat-retaining shirts. The clothes are packaged in boxes and cans, and they can be returned in store or through the mail.
Uniqlo hopes that its vending machines will strike an appealing middle ground between traditional retail options and online e-commerce sites. To begin with, the company will bring 10 of its vending machines to locations throughout the country, including the Houston Airport and Queens Center in New York. Not only will the vending machines offer consumers a new way to purchase Uniqlo garments, they will also serve as eye-catching marketing tools for the company’s products.
If the pilot program is successful, we may see more Uniqlo To Go machines cropping up in other places across the country as well. These days, it seems like there’s virtually no limit to the things you can find in a vending machine.