KUALA LUMPUR: Hundreds of excited shoppers gathered in Kuala Lumpur's hip and trendy Bukit Bintang area on Saturday hoping to grab some clothes as the first customers of Swedish high street retail chain H&M for their grand opening. “I am so excited that we now have an H&M and the prices are really not bad at all,” said Rita Hai, who arrived at the store on Sunday hoping to check out the newest addition to Malaysia's fashion world. “I thought it was going to be much more expensive, but I think it is cheaper here than in Europe,” she told Bikyamasr.com, lifting up her bag to show that she had made some buys. On Saturday, when the doors opened at 11 AM, the Swedish company saw over 1,500 fans and shoppers ready to barge through the doors, showing the impact the global brand has on high street fashion across the planet. The first customer in line, Michelle Tan, was reportedly given a RM500 voucher for shopping and the second through fifth persons were each given voucher worth RM200. The following 300 people to enter the store were given RM50 vouchers. Launching the new outlet in the country was H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson, who led the red ribbon cutting ceremony with Lex Keijser, country manager for H&M China, Singapore and Malaysia and Sin Gin, H&M store manager for Lot 10. “We have had an amazing response from our customers here in Kuala Lumpur and look forward to bringing Malaysians fashion and quality at the best price,” said Keijser. “We are also excited to finally be expanding our business concept here within South-East Asia and hope to grow our following in this.” Prices start at RM19.90 for a T-shirt.
