Hordes expected at store openings

Sylvia Park is bracing itself for massive crowds as two of the world’s biggest fashion retailers prepare to open their doors. Extra train carriages and extended opening hours have been organised to help deal with the hordes.

Swedish clothing store H&M will open its doors at the Mt Wellington mall next Saturday at 10am. It is the chain’s first New Zealand store.

And the following Thursday, October 6, Spanish fashion giant Zara will open at 9.30am.

Sylvia Park owner Kiwi Properties is expecting record crowds once the stores open, and has liaised with Auckland Transport to increase capacity on trains to the centre during the weekends of October 1-2 and 8-9.

Sylvia Park manager Jonathan Douglas said the mall will open at 7am on the Saturday “to allow shoppers to prepare for the opening of H&M at 10am”.

It will remain open until 7pm on Saturday, and will open until 9pm next Thursday, after Zara opens. Shoppers are warned to expect big queues at both new stores, which management says are likely to start forming well before the doors open. And they’re set to be in for some bargains, with promotional material for H&M offering tops from $14.99, shirts from $24.99 and tunics from $29.99.

Last year, at the opening of H&M Cape Town, keen shoppers queued 24 hours before the opening. And in November, hordes queued outside Zara’s first Brisbane store.

Zara is the world’s largest fashion retailer, and is owned by Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega, Europe’s richest man, according to

The brand was established in 1975, and parent company Inditex also owns brands Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti and Bershka.

Zara is known for translating high fashion catwalk designs to their high street stores in record time. In July, the company was accused of copying the work of artist Tuesday Bassen.

Swedish company Hennes & Mauritz (H&M Group) has stores in 62 countries and online shopping in 32 countries.

Alongside H&M, the retailer owns brands including COS and Cheap Monday.

Last year, the group reported a profit of $34 billion, and opened 413 new stores, including in Taipei, Peru, Macau and New Delhi.

It is the world’s second biggest clothing retailer, after Zara’s parent company Inditex.

Zara and H&M achieved a high score in the 2016 Baptist World Aid ethical fashion guide.