Muji goes suburban with New Jersey store

Muji, the low-cost, high-design Japanese retailer that had heretofore concentrated its stores in fashionable districts of New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, is making a move into New Jersey.

Muji will open an 8,600-sq.-ft. store next month at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, its first mall location in the Greater New York area. Current shops are found on Fifth Avenue and in Soho and Cooper Square in Manhattan.

Muji USA president Asako Shimazaki said the chain’s suburban debut marks an important juncture in its expansion plans for the U.S., where it first landed a decade ago.

“We know from our e-commerce business that there is a demand for Muji products outside of the metropolitan hubs,” Shimazaki said. “We feel that the vibrant setting of Garden State Plaza is a perfect location for us to reach the New Jersey market and test out our first store in a more suburban community.”

The design-conscious retailer sells everything from furniture to women’s wear to housewares, all unbranded and reasonably priced. Muji is short for Mujirushi Ryohin, meaning “No brand, quality goods.”

Muji opened its first store abroad in London in 1991. The Garden State Plaza location will be its twelfth in the U.S.

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