Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015 |

 

ae@technewsiit.com

Uniqlo Chicago opens on Magnificent Mile

Kori Bowns
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo is
immensely popular for its reasonably-priced,
high-quality basics and cold weather gear. At
the beginning of this year, it operated over
1,400 stores in 16 countries, but only 21 in the
United States, leaving many fans of the store
only able to order online. This fall Uniqlo
is opening 18 additional stores in the US,
including one in Chicago.

On October 23, Uniqlo opened its
doors on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile at the
intersection of Pearson Street and Michigan

15."ELCIJME

in.
"firm,”

ig'u-u‘lv.>§29.ao

Kori Bowns
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The Chicago Council on Science and
Technology (C2ST) hosts a variety of events
in the city to enhance the public perception
of science and technology. On the evening
of Wednesday, October 21, C2ST hosted a
lecture by Stuart Firestein entitled “Failure:
Why Science is So Successful.” The lecture
took place in the gymnasium of Chicago Tech
Academy High School on the Near West Side
of the city.

Firestein is a professor of
neuroscience at Columbia University and has
published two books that deal heavily with
the differences between public perception of
science and how scientific progress is actually
made. The first of which, “Ignorance: How it

 

Avenue. The store fills three floors above
the Topshop location in the same building.
Chicago’s new store is the second-largest in
the country, the exception being the New York
Fifth Avenue flagship store.

After much anticipation, the
opening of the store brought thousands of
guests over the weekend. Customers who
visited the store on Saturday were welcomed
by a variety of activities taking place nearby
outside of the store. A range of musical acts
were performing, including several DIS and
taiko drum performances. Radio station KISS
FM also offered a prize where visitors could
win candy, bracelets, and Uniqlo gift cards.

TD UHI'JLEI '-

. J -
.. , 7
a i <7
. W ‘1'

Drives Science,” was published in 2012, and
his second book, “Failure: Why Science is so
Successful” was released in early October of
this year.

Approximately 50 people joined
members of C2ST for the lecture. The audience
included a variety of teachers, scientists, and
students. Firestein opened his talk with a
proverb he recalls often in “Ignorancez” “It
is very difficult to find a black cat in a dark
room. . . especially when there is no cat.”
Firestein says that this quote in particular is a
great descriptor of science; while many people
think of science as exact and absolute, a lot of
scientists spend their time stumbling through
what they don’t know, looking for a connection
that may or may not exist. Firestein explained
to his audience that science isn’t solely built on

i I l l
7
i

7T7
l l 1 F
[I] ll 1 l l I l l i 1

While the hype outside of the store
was its own spectacle, entering the store itself
was another. After riding a long escalator ride
to the first floor of Uniqlo, customers were
greeted by wall-to-wall sweaters, shirts, and
jackets in dozens of colors, many of which
were on sale to promote the store’s opening
weekend. The first 200 customers who visited
the store each day received a free Uniqlo tote
bag, and all customers who spent more than
$50 received a free Heattech shirt, a warm base
layer similar to Under Armour.

The store was well-prepared for the
immensely popular launch. Dozens of sales
associates were on hand to answer questions,

advertise sales, and assist customers in
navigating the long fitting room and checkout
lines. The store features a Starbucks on its top
floor that had its team members wandering the
store offering samples of baked goods.

While lines at the store were long,
many people came away with great deals and
a fun experience. Even if nothing is purchased,
seeing and navigating the store is an adventure
on its own. With the high quality and simple
items it offers, Uniqlo is sure to become a staple
on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile for tourists and
locals alike.

FRUH mks-m 10 Emma

knowledge, objectivity, fact, and truth, as many
non-scientists perceive, but it is also built on
ignorance, failure, doubt, and uncertainty.

Firestein spent his lecture explaining
many of the human aspects of science that are
often left out in an average person’s education
on science. He spoke of his experiences as a
professor of neuroscience, where he noticed
that his curriculum and lectures seemed to
imply that scientists has discovered everything
that there is to know about neuroscience, when
that is very far from the truth. That experience
led Firestein to explore the differences between
the way scientists do their work and the way
the public perceives it. He says that scientists
“don’t sit around and talk about what we know
. . . we talk about what we don’t know and what
we want to know.”

\ '

FAILURE

I
h

M ERIC! II 30 SUCCESSFUL

 

IPhotos by Kori Bowns

Stuart Firestein presents CZST Lecture on failure in sc1ence

He continued his lecture and told a
variety of historic stories of scientific progress
and discovery that relied on human creativity,
failure, and uncertainty. Firestein says that
scientific progress is full of, and should be full
of, failures, even though we normally don’t
learn about the process of science in school
or from the media; we only see the end result.
Firestein also says that these human aspects
aren’t a bad thing; they don’t mean that science
is unsound. He told his audience that he thinks
it is important that all members of the public
are scientifically literate and understand more
about how scientists do their jobs.

After Firestein’s lecture, copies of his
newest book were available for purchase and
he stayed at the venue to sign books and speak
with members of the audience.

. 3‘

FAILURE

wnv SCIENCE us so SUOCIIIFUL

STUART FIRESTEIN

 

' 1., .
val/am"

Photos by Kori Bowns