Liverpool Uniqlo: Hundreds queue as fashion giant opens in city
Hundreds of shoppers have been queuing outside Uniqlo's new store in Liverpool as the Japanese clothing giant officially threw open its doors in the city.People who started waiting as early as 06:00 BST on camping chairs were treated to a performance by Japanese drummers outside the new outlet in the Liverpool One precinct.One shopper, Ian Bradley, said he had even trimmed his beard for the event, adding: "This is the biggest day of my year."The global brand said it was delighted to be in the heart of a "vibrant and thriving" city.
Another shopper in the queue was Emma, who described herself as an adopted Scouser and said: "I'm from London where Uniqlo has been for a long long time."I'm just so glad I no longer have to travel back as it is now in our wonderful city."As a gay woman they do gender neutral clothing and they also do kid's clothes for my six-year-old which is fantastic."Last year the company suffered an online backlash in China after the boss of its parent company said the Japanese clothing retailer does not source cotton from Xinjiang, where the Chinese government denies using forced labour by people from the Muslim Uyghur minority in its production.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
China's imports plunge as trade talks conclude
Through February and March, overall imports to the U.S. hit record highs as traders anticipated rising tariffs. But under the withering tariff rates President Donald Trump announced on April 2, what he called "Liberation Day," that overall import number plunged from more than $340 billion in March to just $273 billion in April. "People were importing in anticipation of the imposition of tariffs. Then, when he made the Liberation Day announcement, everything collapsed," said Marcus Noland, executive vice president and director of studies at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. "China is just the best example because when the United States does something, China retaliates. And so that's why we got into the escalatory spiral and ended up with triple-digit tariffs," Noland added. "People couldn't import. Some people literally did not have the money to pay the import tariff." Ocean freight volumes from China to the U.S. fell sharply in April, down 34% from a year earlier, according to Kristy Garcia-Quintela, director of ocean freight at GEODIS, a global logistics company. "34% is pretty big," said Garcia-Quintela, who added the U.S. demand for global ocean shipping saw a 6% decline in April compared to the same month last year. Besides Chinese imports dropping to a post-pandemic low, shipments from the United States' other largest trading partners - the European Union, Mexico, and Canada - also fell in April. Purchases from the European Union, for example, dropped in April to $53 billion after surging to an all-time high just a month earlier at nearly $82 billion. Despite a partial pullback in tariffs and ongoing trade talks, the trade tensions still remain high, and experts expressed concerns about the road ahead. "The truly catastrophic tariffs that were announced on Liberation Day have been avoided, but it's not like everything is looking good right now," said Noland, the economist. (This story has been updated to reflect new events.)
Spectator
2 hours ago
- Spectator
Porn Britannia, Xi's absence & no more lonely hearts?
OnlyFans is giving the Treasury what it wants – but should we be concerned? 'OnlyFans,' writes Louise Perry, 'is the most profitable content subscription service in the world.' Yet 'the vast majority of its content creators make very little from it'. So why are around 4 per cent of young British women selling their wares on the site? 'Imitating Bonnie Blue and Lily Phillips – currently locked in a competition to have sex with the most men in a day – isn't pleasant.' OnlyFans gives women 'the sexual attention and money of hundreds and even thousands of men'. The result is 'a cascade of depravity' that Perry wouldn't wish on her worst enemy. In business terms, however, OnlyFans is a 'staggering success', according to economics editor Michael Simmons. 'Britain's sex industry brings in far more to the economy than politicians are comfortable admitting'; OnlyFans might just be Britain's most profitable tech start-up. 'If we are going to wage a moral war on porn,' Simmons argues, 'we should at least be honest about what we're sacrificing.' Louise and Michael joined the podcast to discuss further (1:21). Next: could Xi Jinping's time be up? Historian Francis Pike writes about the unusual absence of China's President Xi. China-watchers have detected some subtle differences from the norm in Chinese media, from fewer official references to Xi to changes in routine politburo meetings. So, could Xi Jinping be forced to step down? And if so, who is on manoeuvres and why? Francis joined the podcast alongside former diplomat Kerry Brown, professor of China Studies at King's College London (22:31). And finally: is the era of the lonely hearts ad coming to an end? Tony Whitehead provides his notes on lonely hearts columns this week, writing about how, 330 years after they first appeared in print in Britain, they may soon disappear. Francesca Beauman – who literally wrote the book on the subject, Shapely Ankle Preferr'd – and Mark Mason join the podcast to provide their favourite examples, from the serious to the humorous (35:13). Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Scotland flights ambitions of Edinburgh Airport chief
Asked in an exclusive interview with The Herald about new routes, taking into account how demand from travellers was developing, Gordon Dewar said: 'We think the Chinese and the Indian markets and other Asian markets are clearly things we should be working on, and we are.' While he said he was 'not going to speculate' on what would happen on this front, Mr Dewar added: 'The growth there demonstrates the opportunity. 'We just work quietly and we celebrate them [new routes] when they arrive.' He highlighted a major uplift in travel to destinations to which new, direct long-haul routes were launched. Mr Dewar said 'longer-haul new destinations add 30% to 50% to travel', noting direct routes meant journeys were 'less time-consuming". He highlighted Edinburgh Airport's success in winning direct flights between the Scottish capital and Beijing operated by Hainan Airlines, which revealed recently it was extending this service to year-round. Mr Dewar said: 'Hainan were one of many Chinese airlines we talked to. They were the one that responded first to really compelling data about why Chinese airlines will be very successful flying to Edinburgh." He flagged 'tens of thousands of Scots travelling between Scotland and Beijing…having to do it through other destinations' previously. Read more It was announced in late April that Hainan's direct service to Beijing would be increasing from seasonal to year-round. Edinburgh Airport has also enjoyed significant success in recent times in winning and building direct flights to North America, serving various key destinations in the US and Canada. It was announced in the spring that United Airlines is extending its service between Edinburgh and Washington DC to what the airport characterised as 'almost year-round'. In March, it was confirmed that Air Canada would launch a new direct route between Edinburgh and Montreal this summer. Mr Dewar said: 'We got a new Montreal route that was probably at least in part motivated by the reduction in traffic between Canada and America. We would have got Montreal at some point. I am not sure we would have got it this year if it hadn't been for that disruption.' Edinburgh Airport chief executive Gordon Dewar (Image: Edinburgh Airport) He highlighted his confidence that Edinburgh Airport will handle more than 16 million passengers this year, setting another all-time high to exceed the record of 15.78 million it achieved in 2024. In 2012, the year in which Mr Dewar took up the chief executive post at the airport, the passenger total was 9.19 million. Asked about the airport's capacity, in the context of its rapid increase in passenger numbers in recent years and the further expansion of flights projected, Mr Dewar replied: 'We have to build quickly…but we are not at the stage of being full yet. That has been true since 2012 where, apart from Covid, we have been in a constant build programme to keep up with that demand. 'We have got the space. We have got the funding. It is just a matter of getting it all lined up and making sure it lands the day before it is needed.' Mr Dewar highlighted the scale of the growth in the long-haul segment at Edinburgh Airport, and the general reduction in domestic traffic as things he did not foresee when he became chief executive. He underlined the extent to which overall passenger growth at Edinburgh Airport had been driven by international flights. Mr Dewar said: 'The ratio of international [traffic] we have is higher. All the growth is international. We have increased our proportion of inbound [passenger traffic]. The American routes – they tend to be stronger inbound demand.' Asked if he would in 2012 have envisaged passenger numbers being where they are now, Mr Dewar replied: 'We had a five-year plan [in 2012] which we slightly bettered.' 'Thirteen years later, the mix is slightly different from what I expected. No one would have seen the reduction in domestic and during Covid.' He declared that 'no one would have seen the growth in long haul'.
