19-hour wait pays off for first customer at new H&M store
Sometimes it pays to wait. On Thursday, it did for a few shoppers who camped outside the new H&M store for 19 hours.
Shamir Nurani won a $300 gift card to H&M at the Rideau Centre for being the first person in line at its grand opening at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
“My feet are aching,” said Nurani as he stood next to a row of young men in line to use the store’s dressing room. “I’ve done an all-nighter before but nothing like this.”
Loosening his grip on the straps of his blue fabric shopping bag, it opened up to reveal a heap of darkcoloured clothing.
“Sweatshirts, jeans, dress shirts, a leather jacket,” Nurani said. “My aunt helped load it up.”
The bag looked as heavy as those under the eyes of the obviously exhausted 13-year-old boy.
“We thought it would be fun just to camp out and see what it was like,” said his aunt, Sabene Nurani, as she stood next to him. “It’s in the middle of downtown, in the middle of the night, and we’ve never actually done that, so it was fun.
“They played card games and all sorts of games all night, and there were so many other kids there. They had boom boxes — it was like a party,” she said.
Nurani’s brother Zishon stood in the dressing room line to try on some threads he planned on buying.
“I want to buy some sweaters and shirts, a pair of pants or two, maybe a hat,” said Zishon, who also camped on the sidewalk of Rideau Street from 4 p.m. Wednesday until it opened at 11 a.m. Thursday.
Zishon said that he, his brother and aunt originally showed up at 3 p.m. Wednesday to find no one else yet waiting. So, the three decided to have lunch and then begin the camp-out an hour later.
“It felt weird (camping on the street) but it was fun — it was an awesome experience. I’d totally do it again if I had to,” Zishon said.
The wait also paid off for the 15-year-old high school student. “I got second place — I won $200. My brother got first place. I was quite jealous, but I’m happy for him.”
The new H&M makes it the third in the Ottawa region, said Emily Scarlett, the company’s spokeswoman for Canada, over the deep thud of electronic dance music that emanated from a DJ booth set up near the store’s entrance.
“Whether you are in logistics or building or merchandising or visuals — even the store teams that train — we all worked together to make this a great party for our fans and customers,” Scarlett said.
The store, which is about 26,000 square feet, took approximately 18 months to complete from start to finish, she said.
“To have over 500 people turn up for the opening is really incredible, and I think it really shows that people love what we have to offer.”
H&M’s opening was part of the Rideau Centre’s three-year, $360-million expansion. Other attractions to the revamped mall included a newly opened Simons, Anthropologie, Disney Store and Zara.
My feet are aching. I’ve done an all-nighter before but nothing like this.