Uniqlo has announced the opening day for its first two Winnipeg locations.

The doors to the Japanese apparel company’s 18,000-square-foot store in Polo Park shopping centre will open at 10 a.m. on May 15.

The store at St. Vital Centre is set to open later in the year. A specific date has not yet been released.

Both stores will carry the company’s LifeWear lineup for men, women, children and babies. Seasonal collaborations and the UT range of graphic T-shirts will also be available, according to a news release on Wednesday.

To celebrate the Polo Park opening, Uniqlo is launching a Winnipeg-inspired collection of T-shirts and totes, the release says.

The special edition Winnipeg series will consist of three designs: two prints highlighting local businesses, Gunn’s Bakery and Little Sister Coffee Maker; and one featuring a cartoon-like hockey-playing bear illustrated by Canadian artist Jade Bern.

Complimentary cookies and coffee will be made available for the first 300 customers in line before the doors open. The first 500 customers will receive a commemorative tote bag.

Winnipeg-based Japanese drumming ensemble Hinode Taiko will perform prior to the opening speeches and ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Uniqlo opened its first store — originally named Unique Clothing Warehouse — in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1984. It expanded to North American in 2005 with a store in New Jersey and then into Canada with a Toronto store in 2016.

It now has Canadian locations in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia.