Heavy traffic at H&M store opening
About 200 eager shoppers gathered ahead of the opening of the H&M store at Queensgate Shopping Centre yesterday, with the earliest lining up at 6am.
Laji Kosena and her 18-year-old daughter were at the front of the line, awaiting the chain store’s 10am opening.
‘‘We want to get in front of the line. We knew it would be busy,’’ said Kosena, from Berhampore.
The pair were rewarded for being first in line with a $150 store voucher.
Victoria University students Himayu Vinod, Krish Sharma and Ravneet Dutt arrived at 8.30am yesterday hoping to score some freebies.
‘‘We’ve been given free food, smoothies and bagels, it’s been awesome,’’ Sharma said.
They were hoping to get their hands on the collaboration gear H&M made with the Weeknd.
H&M country manager Hans Andersson said his Wellington team was ready for the masses.
H&M is more of a a department store rather than a single fashion brand.
The store spans two floors and covers 2700 square metres. The top floor is for women’s and kids’ fashion, while the bottom floor has men’s clothing and H&M’s new home brand.
Mecca Maxima is set to open next door and Seed opposite H&M, making Queensgate a new international shopping destination for the Wellington region.
Meanwhile, drivers in Lower Hutt were warned to expect delays over the next few days.
Mayor Ray Wallace said the H&M opening was expected to draw crowds from across the region.
With the mall operating with reduced parking capacity after the November 2016 earthquake, Wallace said drivers needed to be patient.
Other events planned over the next few days included Firefly Cinemas holding a Halloween drive-in movie series, the annual Hazardous Waste Collection on Sunday at the Riverbank Car Park, and the Saturday market.
Wallace said it was ‘‘awesome’’ that there were so many events attracting visitors but delays were inevitable.
‘‘If you’re coming to the [Lower Hutt] CBD over coming days, especially during the weekend, please expect there to be lots more traffic on the roads and for there to be delays.’’
There would also be restrictions on access to the northern end of the Riverbank Car Park because of the extra events.
With H&M expected to be a big drawcard, Queensgate has put in place special measures to deal with the expected extra traffic.