Singapore's & SEA's 1st H&M Store
Source: Channel NewsAsia

“Singapore's first H&M store opens in Orchard
- Channel NewsAsia -

Hurray, finally the wait is over! Finally, we don't have to fly to Hong Kong to satisfy our appetite for H&M clothing! We have now South East Asia's 1st H&M store!

As what Singaporeans usually do, some avid H&Mers (fans of H&M as I would call) lined up the night before outside their flagship store in Orchard Building. OMG! Fair enough, they probably want to be the first to grace the shop, the lucky ones to win vouchers to H&M but come on, is it worth the queue? What's more the chances of securing the first five early bird cash vouchers worth $250 is almost negligible? If you don't get that, the second tier of 30 $20 cash vouchers don't seem tempting either...so if you ask me, I won't queue!

Admittedly, the affordable clothing at this Swedish retail-clothing company is what draws its customers. The design of its clothing are also trendy. Given that its now stocked with Autumn/Winter clothing, H&M can probably be one stop where I can stock up on my winter clothing when I return to Singapore at the end of the year.

The hype about H&M is buzzing all over Singapore but not long after, I'm sure this craze will die down. If you don't believe me, one only needs to look back at the launch of Uniqlo in Singapore. Today, it remains popular but the brand has experienced a drop in sales judging from the flow of people into their shops (based on my observations). At the end of the day, one still needs to build up one's brand and have a loyal customer base in order to survive long term. So retailers in Orchard Road who may experience a decline in traffic to their stores need not worry. All hype is only temporal.

As they say "Form is temporary, Class is permanent". Whether H&M can prove to be a class of its own remains to be seen but given the response so far, one can hardly bet against its rise to the top of the Singapore retail sector.