The H&M College Green Flagship Store Opening
The long awaited opening of H&M's flagship store on College Green has finally arrived. I had been anticipating this event for a quite a while, so I definitely wasn't gonna miss the official opening at 6pm, on Thursday gone by. The Swedish-born store has quite a few stores throughout the country already, even in Dublin City Centre, with a store on Henry Street and South King Street, but regardless there was still a massive turnout for the opening of the brand's new flagship store. A few socialites and celebs made an appearance too, such as Amy Huberman, Vogue Williams, Nadia Forde, Leanne Woodfull, Darren Kennedy, Glenda Gilson, Louis Walsh and Nicky Byrne. I managed to bag myself some celeb selfies too, so keep reading to find out more!!
The first 500 people in the queue were blessed with wristbands entitling us to 25% of our purchases, along with many more freebies throughout the experience. The store is spread across 4 floors. Menswear is downstairs, it easily has to be the best men's department in the country. At last, we get a bit more attention, I know we are the minority in the fashion world, but we still need to be catered for, and that we are, in the new flagship store. The widest collection of menswear, I've seen to date. Womenswear is spread across the ground floor, first floor and second floor. The jewellery section can be found on the ground floor, with shoes on the 1st floor and lingerie on the 2nd floor.
GROUND FLOOR - WOMENSWEAR
The whole store is beautifully laid out, visual merchandising is top class and the range of products is phenomenal. With 4 floors, very little was going to be left to the imagination. The mannequins on display were dressed beautifully, with a colour themed approach for each display.
DOWNSTAIRS - MENSWEAR
As I said before the menswear department is one of the biggest I've ever seen. It provides for all occasions, from formal tailored wear, to sportswear. Some of H&M's collections have their own sections too, such as the Basics range and the Divided range with a full wall of denims, to help find the perfect jeans.
FIRST & SECOND FLOOR - WOMENSWEAR
The first floor brings some amazing shoes displays along with more womenswear. Likewise women are extremely well catered for too, the perfect outfit for a night out, an interview, a casual trip or a workout can all be very easily found within this store for an amazing price
THE FITTING ROOM EXPERIENCE
It can't be denied, that we were spoilt for choice, so when I picked out my favourite items, I made my way to the fitting rooms, which were equally impressive. H&M also provided free alterations for any men purchasing a suit over the opening weekend. Whilst waiting in the queue for the fitting rooms, we were gifted with Butlers Chocolates and water, which was a nice little extra. When I got into the fitting room, I was even more impressed, the lighting and space in the changing room is perfect. Plenty of space for changing and hanging clothes, along with full length mirrors. I went in with three shirts and one t-shirt and I fell in love with all of them.
The Shopping List:
The Black T-Shirt with White Print: €9.99
Checkered Flannel Shirt: €9.99
DIVIDED White Shirt with Print €19.99 REDUCED to €10
DIVIDED Red & BlueCheckered Flannel Shirt €19.99 REDUCED to €10
I picked up this Black and White bowtie on the way to the cash desk as well, only €4.99.
My basket total came to €44.97 and then I got my 25% discount for being in the first 500 in the store, bringing it to a total of €33.73.
3 shirts, a t-shirt, and a bowtie for €33.73, delighted.
THE FREEBIES
The first 500 in the store also received a goodie bag with a white unlined notebook, an ideal sketchbook for some more fashion illustrations. The weather outside was more than miserable so on leaving the store, we also received a lovely black and gold compact H&M umbrella, just another little touch that really added to the whole experience.
THE CHERRY ON TOP
To top the whole experience off, I met Glenda Gilson and Louis Walsh and managed to get a quick selfie. Glenda was amazing to chat to and just as beautiful in person as on the TV screen, it was an honour to get to chat to her for a few seconds!
All in all, the H&M Opening was amazing as I hoped it would be. I had been counting down the days and I was not disappointed. Beautiful store, amazing clothes and great value! The whole event has inspired to want to work in fashion even more, I loved the buzz and the excitement around the opening and it's definitely something I want to be involved with...who knows maybe some day I'll get an invite to the red carpet... we can only dream!
That's all for this post, I'd love to hear some feedback, especially if you've been into the new store in College Green, to hear how you found the whole experience. Feel free to follow my blog and share the post.
Much love,
Barry T.
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