Why is it when something is hyped up so much it always turns out to be a let down? I finally had the opportunity to visit the new H&M store in Central. I'd read about the opening in the newspaper and saw all the advertisements in the subway starring none other than Madonna (who has her own line of clothing she designed especially for the Asian opening). There is also a huge billboard of her above the entrance of the department store.I was going to meet my sister-in-law after work and she was running late as usual and she told me to go on ahead. I walk to the entrance and there were security people holding ropes to barricade a queue that went for about 100m from the entrance to the back of the line! The line was moving relatively fast so I decided to join it. The wait was only about three minutes. Inside, there were women sorting through piles of clothing on tables and racks of clothing with pieces that didn't match. It was a mess! Maybe it's the OCD in me but there's nothing worse than a messy shop. So I walked around the floor, just so I could justify the time I spent lining up to come into this place. It took me about 10 minutes to cover the first floor but would have taken less time had people not got in my way. I cleared the second floor in five and the children's clothing in even less time- making my way from the up escalator to the down escalator.
H&M is well known for it's cheap clothing- it's comparable with K-Mart, Uniqlo (perhaps Uniqlo is slightly higher in quality) and Target. I felt the fabric on some pieces and upon closer inspection the sewing was not that great. The only thing that appealed to me was a pair of tracky dacks but I couldn't find my size so I left the place empty handed and just as well because the lines for the cash registers were as long as the lines outside.
I had no idea why Hong Kongers are going nuts over it because if they want similar quality clothing they can just go to the ladies' market - and it was not until I googled for a picture of Madonna advertising her 'M' line that it hit me. People are already hawking her designs on ebay. In hindsight, the clothing and accessories that she wore in all the ads have disappeared from the racks and shelves.
For the brand conscious Hong Kong shoppers, Iwonder if they would have even bothered had Madonna not designed for H&M and the store was just another K-Mart? There are no K-Marts in Hong Kong or a close equivalent. I guess H&M has found a gap in the market.
