Uniqlo has partnered with Jetstar to celebrate the launch of its first store on the Gold Coast at the redeveloped Pacific Fair Shopping Centre.

The store opens to the general public today as part of AMP Capital’s $670 million redevelopment of the shopping centre which commenced in January 2014.

Yesterday, the Japanese apparel retailer hosted a ‘mystery shop-hop,’ partnering with Jetstar to surprise a group of consumers with a shopping trip to its first store on the Gold Coast.

The stunt included a specially chartered mystery flight carrying excited Melburnians to a mystery shopping trip at an unknown destination, flown on a Uniqlo-branded Jetstar A320 aircraft.

Over 25 shoppers took up the opportunity – following last-minute announcements on social media and morning radio. Shoppers arrived early at Uniqlo’s Melbourne Emporium store, before being selected to hop on a bus to Melbourne Airport and board the aircraft for a day of shopping and sunshine on the Gold Coast.

The aircraft arrived to fanfare at Gold Coast Airport, with drummers welcoming shoppers as they stepped off the plane and onto a red carpet on the tarmac.

Shoichi Miyasaka, CEO of Uniqlo Australia, said “We are incredibly excited to partner with Jetstar to celebrate our new Pacific Fair store – and to be surprising and delighting consumers to Australia’s biggest mystery shop.

“At Uniqlo, we’re constantly looking for new and innovative ways to surprise shoppers and to create new experiences for them, and a partnership with Jetstar for a mystery shop was the perfect synergy for our brand.

“We’re thrilled to bring Uniqlo to Gold Coast residents and for them to experience our product offering. We’ve seen a very positive response from Queenslanders to our range of clothing so far – and we’re confident Gold Coast shoppers will fall in love with the brand too,” said Miyasaka.

Uniqlo’s Pacific Fair store will offer the full range of the fast-fashion retailers apparel for men, women, kids and babies.

Read more about the Pacific Fair Shopping Centre’s $670 million redevelopment in the next edition of Inside Retail Weekly.

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