 "People waiting outside the H &M Store at Select City Walk Mall in New Delhi. Photo: Dalip Kumar")
Swedish fashion retail chain Hennes and Mauritz, or H&M, could not have asked for a better welcome in India when its first store opened in the capital on Friday. Around 2,500 queued, many of them having stayed put through the night, to be at the H&M’s store launch, marking the chain’s entry into the 16th country. Teenagers to retired people, professionals to housewives were all there at Select City Walk mall, a popular shopping destination in South Delhi, waiting to see a store launch.
H&M not only rolled out a red carpet to welcome its customers, but it made sure that it got all the attention at the mall. Deejay, imposing banners, volunteers pushing patrons of the mall towards the store-they did it all. The sheer number of people present there could give competition to queues outside touristy monuments or holy shrines. There were bouncers, too, in case things went unruly.
Enthusiastic crowds, waiting for hours, wanted to be seen as the first ones to enter the store, as well as get a few of the goodies the fashion brand had planned to give away. “We have been planning for this for the past two days. We came at nine in the morning, so that we could enter the store first,” said Ishan Khurana, a techie.
By mid-afternoon, the crowds became so overwhelming that some who did not know what the buzz was all about thought a popular film actor had come to promote his new film. Of course, there was Bollywood frenzy a day before, with Ranveer Singh, Jacqueline Fernandez and Lisa Haydon at the launch party.
Thousands managed to get inside the 25,000 sq ft store after crossing a maze of queues and checks. To control the crowd, the store management divided the queues in three parts in the morning. While the first queue was set right at the entrance of the mall, volunteers chaperoned the crowds to the atrium of the mall and then the main red-carpeted final queue to the store.
H&M India Chief Executive Janne Einola said, “By early morning, there were more than 1,000 people lined up. Not only the footfalls, but sales have been great as well. We are extremely happy and believe the whole weekend would be like this.”
H&M not only rolled out a red carpet to welcome its customers, but it made sure that it got all the attention at the mall. Deejay, imposing banners, volunteers pushing patrons of the mall towards the store-they did it all. The sheer number of people present there could give competition to queues outside touristy monuments or holy shrines. There were bouncers, too, in case things went unruly.
Enthusiastic crowds, waiting for hours, wanted to be seen as the first ones to enter the store, as well as get a few of the goodies the fashion brand had planned to give away. “We have been planning for this for the past two days. We came at nine in the morning, so that we could enter the store first,” said Ishan Khurana, a techie.
By mid-afternoon, the crowds became so overwhelming that some who did not know what the buzz was all about thought a popular film actor had come to promote his new film. Of course, there was Bollywood frenzy a day before, with Ranveer Singh, Jacqueline Fernandez and Lisa Haydon at the launch party.
Thousands managed to get inside the 25,000 sq ft store after crossing a maze of queues and checks. To control the crowd, the store management divided the queues in three parts in the morning. While the first queue was set right at the entrance of the mall, volunteers chaperoned the crowds to the atrium of the mall and then the main red-carpeted final queue to the store.
H&M India Chief Executive Janne Einola said, “By early morning, there were more than 1,000 people lined up. Not only the footfalls, but sales have been great as well. We are extremely happy and believe the whole weekend would be like this.”
H & M Global CEO Karl-Johan Persson at the opening of the H & M store in New Delhi. Photo: Dalip Kumar
It took around 35 bouncers spread across the vicinity of the store to handle the massive crowds and keep them from storming into the store. While some were minding the queues, others stood like wall at the entrance preventing enthusiastic shoppers to slip in, from outside the queue.
While most gathered there just wanted to see what the hullabaloo was all about, there were others who had heard of the brand and wanted to check the collection.
“I have heard great things about the brand, their designs are amazing and the price point is great. Also, the whole red-carpet appeal to the opening made it more special,” said Natasha Singhal, a management student.
But not everyone was happy to stand in queues and opted to get out. “It is just another brand. They are creating a lot of hype around it to gather crowds. I will come back when the crowd is gone,” said Simran Sandhu, a college student.
Some of those tired of long queues preferred to check out H&M’s rivals such as Zara and GAP at the same mall.
Although others offered discounts, too, and even opened early to compete with the latest entrant, there was a steady flow of shoppers but no queue. “This is normal footfall for us. Our brand has its own fan-following and people who wear our apparel stick to it,” said an employee at one of these stores, on condition of anonymity.
