Malaysian’s 2nd home no doubt, can be shopping malls.
Brave the queue or test your patience
Me and Hawk headed to Malaysia’s first Uniqlo store opening at Fahrenheit 88 (formerly KL Plaza). We arrived around 10:30am and stepping out of lift, were greeted by the throngs of bodies already queuing. Plus, it wasn’t just any queue.
It was a queue which spanned from the front entrance, into the concourse, to the back of the mall and back out again to the main entrance of the Uniqlo Malaysia outlet. Within 30 minutes, the morning queue grew till people started forming a line to the wall.
Though one of the good things which happened was the spillover business to kiosks nearby. The kiosk with yellow, orange and white balloons (I think) sold some gelato to patrons queuing for Uniqlo. 😛
In the morning, some VIPs were there to officiate the opening. And I heard someone mention, apparently one of the VIPs was Maya Karin. *shrug*
And before I forget, even after you’ve reached outside, there’s still 1 more queue before you can step into Uniqlo Malaysia.
As the crowd started moving, onlookers started gathering outside Level 2 of Uniqlo Malaysia. Only to peek inside the store and envy the shoppers inside who’re making purchases. Honestly, me and Hawk were thinking, why on Earth are they torturing themselves? LOL!
Drinks on the house
Some lucky people were given free drinks courtesy from one of the F&B outlets in Fahrenheit 88. I don’t remember the name but they’re located on Level 2.
Once inside, the ground floor looked like it was ransacked. Seriously. Clothes were on the floor. They were piled on top of each other. Some chucked aside like it was someone’s house. But what bothered me most was a lurking stench. Thinking to myself, someone had really really REALLY bad body odor. Yuck!
Inside Uniqlo Malaysia at Fahrenheit 88
In terms of staff, they had enough and Uniqlo prepared their Malaysian team well. They were still mindful to help customers find sizes, even in this chaotic and smelly environment. Kudos! Plus, you’ll never not know where’s the back of the line – here’s why.
Come to think of it. They should’ve placed one of these staff in the mall, together with the sign. This way, everyone can tell where’s the start (or end) of the line.
In the Uniqlo Malaysia store, you’ll find garments from simple T-shirts to formal wear to winter wear. In my view, Uniqlo’s line of clothes is for the simple and functional consumer at an affordable price with awesome quality. The fabric used for most of their garments were soft and comfortable. Including their UJeans! 😀
And here’s what really happened.
Me and Hawk didn’t queue the moment we reached. Instead, we observed the crowd and estimated the time it took at the time to reach point A to point B. The crowd like this may have spooked us off a bit. 😛
As it was nearing 12pm, we decided to hunt for lunch and later come to back to re-assess the situation. The line was shorter but it was at its shortest much later.
In our hunt for lunch, we spotted the YES cube and troopers.
YES is the new 4G broadband offered by YTL Communications.
We stood in line from 1:25pm inside the mall only to reach the outside queue about 2 hours and 30 minutes later. Once inside, we rummaged through what’s left of the t-shirts on the ground floor before heading to the Men’s section on the 3rd floor. If you’re looking for UJeans, don’t waste your time on the ground floor. There are shelves of it upstairs! 😉
If you’re going to use the fitting room, estimate 30 minutes to 1 hour wait time. And for UJeans, you’ll want to try all of them irregardless of it looking the same. Because 1 of the pairs I bought fitted differently compared to the others. Which is weird, I know.
And here’s a very important message:
Uniqlo Malaysia now opens at 11:00am and closes at 8:00pm.
Plus, I read on their Facebook page they discourage patrons queuing from 7:30pm.
Which I suppose is understandable, thinking back to the mess they’ve to sort out before closing time. In addition, it’s a long weekend, so you can expect a crowd these 3 days.
Fahrenheit 88 parking rates
- Monday to Thursday: RM3 first hour and RM2 every additional hour
- Friday to Sunday: RM3 first hour and RM3 every additional hour (ouch!)
- Maximum per day: RM15 flat rate
You can get RM1 off parking if you spend more than RM100 in a single receipt. This needs to be verified at the concierge services counter located towards behdind mall.
But I paid the painful maximum rate of RM15 yesterday parking from 10:30am to 6:00pm. My advice, take the train to Bukit Bintang and walk. Unless you’re only expecting to spend less than 1 hour there.
Must Read: Time spent at Uniqlo Malaysia store
- 2 to 3 hours average queuing time to get into Uniqlo Malaysia
- 1 to 2 hours shopping time depending what you’re buying (best to plan ahead)
- 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes queue for fitting room (you may find women on men’s floor)
- 5 minutes to 1 hour waiting time at cashier (depending on crowd)
To the patrons today, good luck. To Uniqlo Malaysia and the staff, gambatte! 😀
Limited Offer: Opening items sale period
Note the following items will be on sale for a limited time only.
- 2010 UT-shirts collection: RM29.90 (November 4 – 18, 2010)
- UJeans collection: RM49.90 (November 4 – December 2, 2010)
- Fleece collection: RM49.90 (November 4 – 18, 2010)
- Free tote bag by spending Rm200 in a single receipt. (November 4 – 7, 2010)
And it’s subject to while stocks last. Me and Hawk personally went for the jeans only. Plus, when I asked a Uniqlo staff, he said the offer only applied to Regular Straight Fit. It would be disappointing to find this was untrue right now.
But overall, I love the outlet and clothes. It’s going onto my regular places to shop list. 🙂