Getting some H&M action in Coquitlam

H&M H&M H&M—what is it a disease?  

I'd heard sooooooooooooo much about H&M before actually visiting one a few years ago in France that I felt like I'd already shopped there by the time I set foot in the store. Criminey.

So when I heard that there would be one opening up here, I knew there would be a lot of consumer anticipation and hype.

I went tonight to the media preview of the Coquitlam H&M which officially opens tomorrow (and there were already gaggles of shoppers salivating on the windows, leaving puddles of drool on the ground around their Manolo Blahnik imitations and their adopted foreign babies from developing countries that they dragged along).

It's an extremely large space, the size of three stores, and it's divided into four sections.

The first section, near the entrance from the parking lot side, has both guys' and girls' clothing. The guys' stuff in this area is more street-oriented, with patterns and designs on them (geared towards a younger demographic). A lot of accessories for both guys and girls (hats, bags, scarves, jewelry, etc.).

The second section is guys' stuff only, but has more formal wear, mostly solid colours or more subdued patterns or designs. Stuff like dress shirts and pants, blazers, jackets, as well as underwear and socks.

The third section is kids' clothing. And the fourth (closest to the mall entrance) is girls' clothing.

I took coworker and shoppanista Sarah, who could not sleep in anticipation of this party. She was so excited and really did shop until she dropped (some money on purchases).

Sarah, like everyone else, loved the cheap prices.

We thought we spotted Posh Spice. But it just turned out to be a wannabe. Pish. So we moved on to what we wanted, what we really really wanted.

On my first run through the mens' clothes, I didn't see anything I really liked. On subsequent searches (while waiting for Sarah who was in the throes of a fashion frenzy and had to breathe into a brown paper bag), I did find a few things. And the more I waited, the more I found. Fab!

I did end up getting a lot of basics and things I needed (in part because there was a special sale on).

But I guess there weren't really a lot of things that jumped out at me, like they do at some other stores. Pish. For my own personal taste, I think I find things at Zara more interesting.

Some of the prices were really cheap, like a slim fit dress shirt regular $24.90 but on sale with $10 off, and some stretch t-shirts for $12.90.

There tends to be a lot of polyester in the material though there are some 100 percent cotton items for extremely reasonable prices. A lot of the clothes say they are made in countries like Bangladesh and China.

Bargain hunters will be pleased, and I'm sure they'll do well.

For those not willing to make the trek out to Coquitlam, there will be one opening eventually in Pacific Centre Mall, in the former Holt Renfrew space. For those who can't wait, I'm sure the first few days will be ab fab and ab cra (absolutely crazy).