UNIQLO Puts Its First U.S. Community Hub on Lake Avenue in Altadena

When UNIQLO opened what it calls its first permanent community hub anywhere in the United States last Thursday, the global retailer didn’t choose Manhattan or downtown Los Angeles. It chose a schoolyard on Lake Avenue in Altadena, adjacent the Eaton Fire burn area.

The UNIQLO Street Soccer Park & Learning Center, built with nonprofit Street Soccer USA at St. Elizabeth Parish School, offers two turf soccer fields and a classroom converted from a shipping container — all of it free. Organizers say they expect to reach 1,000 young people in the first year with soccer programming, homework help, mentorship, and financial and digital literacy support, according to the companies’ July 9 announcement.

The park grew out of a pledge UNIQLO and its parent company, Fast Retailing, made in January 2025: up to $2 million in funds and clothing for communities affected by the Los Angeles wildfires, according to the announcement. The site was selected for its proximity to the burn area and its central location in Altadena, the organizations said.

“St. Elizabeth Parish School was a meaningful location because it serves as an important community anchor in Altadena,” Jean Shein, UNIQLO’s global director of sustainability, said in written responses to Pasadena Now. The company confirmed the Altadena site is its first permanent community hub in the U.S.

The July 9 grand opening drew a crowd for a ribbon-cutting, friendly matches between UNIQLO team members and local families, learning center tours, a taiko drumming performance, and food from In-N-Out Burger, according to the announcement. Attendees included UNIQLO USA CEO Fuminori Adachi, Angel City FC midfielder Hina Sugita, and County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose district includes Altadena.

“Seeing local children and families step onto the fields for the first time was incredibly meaningful,” Shein said. “After months of planning, the space immediately came to life with play.”

The park is Street Soccer USA’s third free-to-play hub in Los Angeles County, after Watts and South Gate, the organizations said. But the nonprofit’s local roots here run through its own staff. Luca Marton, Street Soccer USA’s managing director for Los Angeles, lives in Altadena, along with one of the organization’s program managers.

“Watts has different needs than South Gate. South Gate has different needs than Altadena,” Marton said in written responses. “When we move with the understanding that we are stewards, guests in servitude, not saviorism, it leaves space for the community to lead and for us to resource the drive to fulfill that need.”

Demand for places to play has been part of Altadena’s recovery story. LAist reported in March that a group of Eaton Fire survivors who had played weekly pickup soccer at Loma Alta Park since 2018 described the games as central to their recovery after being told by the county they could no longer play soccer on that field.

For Street Soccer USA founder and CEO Lawrence Cann, the ribbon-cutting carried personal weight. “For me personally it was a full circle moment,” Cann said in written responses to Pasadena Now. “We started SSUSA partially because of all the people that helped me and my family when our house burned down when I was a child.”

For now, the park operates on a limited schedule tied to St. Elizabeth Catholic Church’s calendar: Monday through Friday from 2:30 to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Marton said. Free toddler programs run Saturdays from 9 to 10 a.m. — ages 2 to 3 on one field, ages 4 to 5 on the other — and the remaining hours are open free play, with field reservations available through Street Soccer LA’s Instagram account, @streetsoccerlosangeles. The organization is working to expand the hours, Marton said.

A year from now, Marton said, success would look like play running every weekday evening and all day Saturday. “We envision a cherished 3rd space that the community of Altadena and Pasadena can call their own, can have autonomy and ownership over, and can feel safe and proud to seek respite there after a long day or week,” he said.