UNIQLO is coming to the Sunshine Coast. Which regional city should be next?

Locyra

12 minutes ago

4 min read

UNIQLO’s first Sunshine Coast store opens at Sunshine Plaza on the 15th of October. At nearly 800 square metres, with clothing for men, women, children and babies, it brings the Japanese retailer’s LifeWear range into another Australian market.[1][10]

Since opening its first Australian store at Emporium Melbourne in April 2014, UNIQLO has grown to forty stores nationwide. Sunshine Plaza will take the network to forty-one on 15 October.[2][3][10]

Australian sales rose 19.4% to A$817.1 million in the year ended 31 August 2025, while net profit increased 27% to A$87.1 million.[11] That gives the next-store question a firmer starting point: a retailer with proven Australian demand and a profitable business to expand.

The retailer is also planning a larger Queen Street Mall flagship in Brisbane.[1] Together, those moves show two ways to grow: give an established market a bigger offer and give a new market its first local store. For regional cities without a UNIQLO, the opportunity is to connect local clothing demand with a convincing first address.

Build on the network already there

The network ranges from city-centre locations such as Emporium Melbourne and Queen Street Mall to suburban destinations including Westfield Parramatta and Eastland Shopping Centre. Stores at Erina Fair on the Central Coast and Pacific Werribee in Melbourne’s outer west extend that reach into satellite and outer-metropolitan markets.[3] UNIQLO has reinvested in the original Emporium Melbourne store through a refurbishment, alongside its plans for further expansion.[13]

Australian COO Satoshi Naito put that growth in perspective in an interview with Ragtrader: “The number of stores we open is not overly important.” He emphasised the value of each store and described the business as researching where customers wanted it to open.[13] Forty stores alone cannot tell us where the network is approaching saturation. The next location needs to add enough business to justify its place.

Newcastle, Toowoomba, Geelong, Townsville, Cairns and the Illawarra have no listed UNIQLO store.[3] A first local address could make it easier for existing online customers to check a fit, compare fabrics or buy something needed that day. It also gives people unfamiliar with the range somewhere to try it.

Start with the regional market, then choose the centre

UNIQLO’s LifeWear is built around simple design, quality, comfort and functionality. The Sunshine Plaza range spans adults, children and babies.[1][9] That gives a prospective landlord a broader customer proposition to investigate than a narrow age or income group.

The regional demand question starts with spending power in men’s, women’s and children’s clothing. Residents provide an important foundation for that market. The location question is then how effectively a particular centre reaches those customers and attracts their shopping.

Those questions need to stay connected. A substantial regional clothing market can be shared across several centres, and a customer may use different places for different purchases. A landlord’s case becomes stronger when it shows how a UNIQLO store would fit into those existing shopping habits.

Public information and our LoculChoices review of selected centres provide context for this commercial shortlist. We focus on CBD retail locations and leading regional shopping centres, including alternatives where their scale and retail role make them credible peers. Sunshine Plaza provides a useful reference because UNIQLO has chosen it. Its selection shows one kind of location the retailer is willing to enter; it does not establish a minimum spending threshold or a universal store format.

Newcastle: compare the leading centres

Charlestown Square and Westfield Kotara both serve the broader Newcastle market. The choice between them is more likely to turn on the size and position of the available tenancy, neighbouring retailers and the commercial terms each landlord can offer.

Toowoomba: test the regional opportunity

Toowoomba presents a distinct regional market in which UNIQLO could establish its first local address, with Grand Central the candidate in this shortlist.[3]

For Grand Central, the case is to demonstrate how LifeWear would complement the clothing offer customers already use and help bring more of their shopping into the centre. Customer reach, workable premises and occupancy costs would turn the regional opportunity into a practical store proposal.

Geelong: test the additional business

Geelong offers a first-store opportunity, with Westfield Geelong and Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre worth considering.[17] A local store could make shopping the range in person more convenient for customers who currently travel outside the city to do so.

The existing Pacific Werribee store makes the network question concrete: which customers would find a Geelong location more convenient, and how much additional business could it bring? That question should be tested across the candidate locations before a landlord is preferred.

North Queensland: two distinct markets

Townsville and Cairns offer separate regional opportunities. In Townsville, Willows Shopping Centre and Townsville Shopping Centre at Aitkenvale belong in the location assessment.[15][14] Their customer reach and relevant clothing spending power need to be compared before recommending one address over another.

In Cairns, Cairns Central provides the city-centre candidate.[19] The role of visitors also deserves attention alongside local clothing spending power. Choosing between Townsville and Cairns is a market-entry decision; the location then needs to demonstrate how it would serve that demand.

The Illawarra: two leading locations

In the Illawarra, Wollongong Central and Stockland Shellharbour provide the candidate locations for a first local UNIQLO store.[24][26] Their customer reach and the premises each could offer would shape the location decision.

Give the retailer a reason to choose your city

For the cities on this shortlist, the opportunity is to make a convincing case for a first local UNIQLO. That case needs both regional clothing demand and an attractive tenancy proposition: suitable space, strong retail adjacencies and workable terms. Sunshine Plaza gives landlords a timely reason to put that proposition forward.

About the analysis: This selective commercial shortlist draws on public information and an August 2026 LoculChoices snapshot for selected centres. It does not rank regional clothing demand, and additional candidates have not all been compared in the model. Customer spending power is distinct from spending captured by a centre. Individual-store sales have not been forecast, and tenancy availability and commercial terms have not been verified. The locations are suggestions, not announced UNIQLO plans. No confidential client data was used.

The FY2025 sales and profit figures describe UNIQLO’s Australian business. They are not individual-store results or a measure of like-for-like sales growth.