H&M to open debut store at Select Citywalk on October 2

Long awaited arrival Swedish label H&M will be open its India store on October 2, on a 25,000 sq. ft. area at south Delhi's Select Citywalk Mall. October 2 is also celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti in India to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The company said in a statement that it will organise musical events to roll out its first store in India and offer limited edition H&M India tote bags to the first 1,000 customers in queue, while the first three shoppers in queue on opening day will receive gift cards worth Rs 15,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 7,500 respectively.

Indian malls are wooing foreign labels like H&M to attract customers. For instance, Select Citywalk relocated its once anchor tenant Pantaloons department store from its 20,000 sq. ft. space to an 8,000 sq. ft. space on the upper floor to accommodate first India’s H&M store.

The company plans to open 50 stores in the country amid competition from global fashion labels such as Zara, Gap, Forever 21 and Massimo Dutti. Endorsed by the likes of super-model Gisele Bundchen and footballer David Beckham in international ad campaigns, H&M plans to invest 100 million euros (over Rs 780 crores) in the first phase through its wholly-owned subsidiary. H&M is currently present in 53 markets worldwide. Founded in Sweden in 1947, the company’s brands in addition to H&M, include & Other Stories, Cheap Monday, COS, Monki and Weekday as well as H&M Home.