Seoul: Japanese casual wear brand Uniqlo is reopening its flagship store in Myeongdong, central Seoul, this week, some five years after shuttering the outlet due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the clothing apparel company said Tuesday. The three-story, 3,250 square-meter venue, set to open Friday in the shopping and tourism district, will be the largest Uniqlo store in South Korea, featuring all product lineups from the brand, the company said. Some of the brand's popular items will be sold at a discount through next Monday, as part of a promotional event to celebrate the outlet's reopening, it added.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Myeongdong, which heavily depends on foreign tourists, had faced a severe economic crisis during the pandemic. The vacancy rate of small-sized stores in the area surpassed 40 percent during the second half of 2021, when the country was under strict social distancing rules, according to data from the Korea Real Estate Board. But the district has recently shown signs of revival amid the growing popularity of Korean pop culture. A total of 1.4 million tourists visited South Korea in February, up 25.7 percent from a year earlier. The figure is a 19.1 percent increase when compared with the same month in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.