H&M Vancouver, More like Coquitlam
Update: The Downtown Vancouver location will open its doors in the spring of 2008, in the old Holt Renfrew location of Pacific Centre (along Granville between Georgia and Dunsmuir)
Update: H&M Coquitlam Opens THIS THURSDAY, August 23rd, 2007.
It’s called the Ikea of fashion and BC is getting its first one at Coquitlam Centre. H&M opens Thursday at 12pm with a ribbon cutting ceremony, big discounts for the first customers and a stylish gift with every purchase. [News1130] - [Google Map for Coquitlam Centre]
View Larger MapUpdate: Buzz captures the excitement of the first few shoppers Wednesday night at a super secret, private, privileged preview and scores some great deals as well [Blog According to Buzz]
H&M is a cheap, comfy, cute, fashionable, under and outerwear clothing store for men and women. There’s been a buzz on the West Coast ever since shoppers have traveled or come from elsewhere and discovered the wonders of H&M. Whether it be in Pittsburgh, London or Boston, there are numerous stores worldwide (and over 10 in Ontario alone). The chain embraced Canada a few years back leaving every Vancouverite wondering when they would be so lucky.
It’s been talked about on several blogs [wyn][mbv][br] and there’s even a petition to get one on the West coast. Someone came across the recent Monster job posting for managers and sales staff, which caused a stir and it seems like the store rustles up this kind of hype everywhere it goes. [mbLA]
Well it’s true, Hennes & Mauritz is coming to the Lower Mainland, but not to Vancouver. The store (according to all sources I can find with my Googling powers) will be added to the vast expanse that is Coquitlam Centre [wiki].
Today there are 26 stores in the Canadian division, all located within the provinces of Ontario (19 stores) and Quebec (7 stores). Expansion into Western Canada will start in 2007 with two stores in Alberta at West Edmonton Mall and Calgary’s Market Mall. The first store in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia is planned for Coquitlam Centre and is expected to open in Fall 2007. [wiki]
Not only would it take a non-car driving Vancouverite like myself about 1.5 hours to get out there on a bus, but does that mall need to be any bigger? Metrotown is already the big evil shopping behemoth in the region, but tucked away in what used to be lush forest, the retail hub of the Tri-Cities is growing rapidly and we’re none the wiser. It’s a beast, and no measure of mid-mall leather couches and ‘pit stop’ TV watching areas can save you.
I suppose moving the pseudo box store out to the burbs will spare the complications of trying to nail down a Robson Street address. I despise malls, I rarely have enough money to spend to ease the pain of long lines, walk rage and the stress of just getting in and getting out. Will an H&M in the Tri-Cities be worth trip? It’ll be a bit of a hassle no doubt, but it’ll beat going all the way to East coast to get another $10 bikini or pretty $15 button-up shirt for work. The less we all have to travel to Toronto, the better.
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January 29th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
i seriously cannot be paid to go to coquitlam now. it was bad enough when i was growing up there; filled with princesses and thinly-veiled heroin addictions. now, it’s becoming a shopping haven for who? the plateau, anmore and belcarra people. seriously, do they really need a discount store?
(i know, that was very judgemental.)
January 29th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Oh it’s definitely changed over the years. The place and the people. I had a friend who used to live near Buntzen and it seemed like the absolute middle of nowhere - looks totally different now with all the big HUGE houses cut all the way up the mountain.
January 29th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Is Coquitlam Centre on the 97 B-line? If so, it’s *just* that Skytrain ride to Lougheed and the 97 for people who are central.
I don’t know exactly what it’s opening up in Coq. Centre first - I heard that Old Navy’s first store was there, too - but Vancouverites will be so nutso for H&M that there’s enough demand (but is there storefront-age?) for multiple locations.
I blogged about H&M because it seemed to odd to not have one here for such a long time. But, the reason I shopped H&M was because aside from being ridiculously well-priced, the pieces were novel for the Vancouver scene. That’s why my last Canadian H&M shopping binge will probably be in the Montreal one in May.
January 30th, 2007 at 7:18 am
The first one in Toronto was at Fairview mall, which is relatively suburban. It was soon joined with a mammoth downtown store for which they built a whole new wing of the Eaton Centre. That opened when the construction was finished. Sound familiar? I wouldn’t worry about it.
January 30th, 2007 at 8:09 am
Yeah, now there’s a bagillion in Ontario. I’ve also heard that this will be the first in the area and naturally the locations to follow would be Robson, S. Granville etc.
January 30th, 2007 at 9:29 am
The problem with locations like Robson are the rents; you can’t really have a store known for reasonable prices in a high rent area, which really eliminates all of downtown. They may do it, but look at the stores that are there now… there is no cheap Real Canadian Superstore or Save-On-Foods, but there is the more expensive Safeway… there is no Home Depot or Revy, but there are expensive, smaller hardware stores. Yes, there are some places known for the prices; but, for example, in reality there are hardly any McDonald’s as compared to the population downtown (especially the daytime population). It’s the trade off for living downtown, you accept higher prices; and that unfortunately does not apply to just the rents.
January 30th, 2007 at 9:35 am
My in-laws took a trolley tour of Vancouver when they visited last year, they said at the corner of Starbucks n Starbucks (aka Thurlow & Robson) they were told the ‘bucks under Red Robin on the West side pays about $40k/month in rent. Imagine what some place like HMV must pay - eek!
January 30th, 2007 at 11:32 am
There are H&M’s all over London in expensive shopping areas. I imagine they will likely open up downtown eventually. It’s probably part of the plan. They create a buzz in some out of the way mall. I doubt I’ll shop there much though, it won’t be unique anymore.
January 30th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Flash said “you can’t really have a store known for reasonable prices in a high rent area, which really eliminates all of downtown.”
Not so sure about that, for instance, H & M has locations all over Manhattan - one on super expensive 5th Ave by Central Park, a few different spots in SoHo, etc. The H & M image, despite the low prices, is a lot more upscale than you might think - maybe along the lines of Ikea meets Club Monaco.
January 30th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
I wouldn’t worry about H&M. Their Eaton Centre store in Toronto is three floors, and opens onto one of the busiest corners in the city. They do incredible business.
There’s a new McDonalds opening on Granville by Robson, but the lack of locations downtown might be more demographic. If a terrible $1 pizza place can make rent, so can McDonalds–but they might have higher expectations. As for Real Canadian Superstores, the whole concept is huge, single-story stores with acres of parking around them. It’s inherently suburban. Yet there is a new Costco that just opened at Chinatown station. They seem to be doing fine, selling discount merch.
January 30th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
H & M is going into the old Holt’s location in Pacific Centre. Of course Holt’s has to finish their new spot and move into it before that happens…..
January 30th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
speaking of HMV’s rent… when it was a virgin megastore, they actually closed due to the overwhelming rent prices. poor poor virgin.
January 31st, 2007 at 10:20 am
Yeah, I totally heard that H&M is going into Holt’s old space Downtown.
January 31st, 2007 at 10:25 am
I did say that there would be exceptions. Yes there a lot of $1 pizza places and other cheap places, but they also tend to close or change owners a lot, or tend to locate where they are offered cheap rent because the building is scheduled to be knocked down for a new complex in 2 or 3 years.
Rilah’s example of Virgin is a great example that I almost used myself.
Costco may be a warehouse club, but they certainly aren’t discount products. Costco is known for carrying brand names, and for catering to a more upscale clientele. One of my first jobs was at the one on Grandview when it first opened (and was a competitor at the time), we did millions of dollars of business each month. Back then it only cost $3 million to stock the entire place, and we did $2 million on the opening weekend.
For a real popular place, you can locate in a high rent place and make a profit even if your prices are not high… but if you can locate the same store in the suburbs, get close to the same level of business, and pay a third the rent, where is a smart business going to locate first?
January 31st, 2007 at 10:27 am
From Pacific Centre’s Wiki (so it must be kinda right):
“New Retailers for Pacific Centre will include Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Sephora, H&M, and an expanded flagship Roots location.”
January 31st, 2007 at 11:28 am
Rebecca… Good news for you… happy shopping!
January 31st, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Oh wow….I’d totally check it in downtown. I don’t think I’ve been in Coquitlam Centre since I was a wee kid. When they still had those telephones during christmas, that you’d pick up and talk to Rudolph and Santa {LOL}
I don’t head to Coquitlam. Mind you, don’t really have any friends that live there either…
February 14th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
According to this report Pacific Centre will be making the old Holt Renfrew into a 25,000 sq ft store and nine smaller spaces
H&M will easily be the 25,000 sq ft space
The store at Coquitlam Centre is huge its where MEC used to be - two other stores were moved to make room for H&M
I don’t see why it will be Fall 2007 - work has already started on the space and the stores themselves aren’t that much building wise
March 25th, 2007 at 12:33 am
h and m are opening on granville street too i heard
March 27th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
yes - H&M says theyenvision 10 stores for the Vancouver market according to an article in the newspaper
the old holt renfrew is on granville street - i can imagine it will have a granville street entrance just like holt renfrew has now
and if its like every other city H&Ms will pop up within 5 minutes of each other
in san francisco there are 3 H&M stores all within a 5 minute walk of each other
they all carry different lines only the big store carries the mens line - the other two have womens only - h&M has a bunch of different lines and depending on store size does not carry them all under one roof
August 23rd, 2007 at 8:36 am
[...] The ‘Ikea’ of clothing, H&M comes to ‘Metro Vancouver’ today, opening up at Coquitlam Centre. The Swedish retailer is known for taking current runway fashions and then ‘churning them out for the masses’ at bargain prices. (YAY!) [Miss604] [...]
August 24th, 2007 at 3:17 am
i was there - long lineups outside and inside - but the one outside moved fast
cheap cheap cheap and people left with armloads
yay
re a commecnt further up about robson rent - i heard that the GAP on robson pays over one million in rent a year - thats gotta be like $110,00 a month
its up there
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:22 am
[...] York, London, Toronto, Boston, and Coquitlam, BC are all locations of H&M at which I have had the pleasure of handing over cold hard cash to [...]