I headed over to the new H&M at Columbus Circle at 2pm today to see the store and check out what was left at the Maison Martin Margiela launch.
When you walk into the Time Warner Center you can see a big H&M sign on the second floor balcony beckoning you up. The store front windows have both a Margiela display and a festive holiday display. Security guards were standing at the door and I felt extra special walking on the red carpet.
I was expecting to find a crazy and depleted Margiela section but this was not the case. Tucked away in a corner opposite the registers was a large roped off section (many more security guards) and a stocked Maison Martin Margiela shopping area.
A DJ was spinning and every so often he turned down the music as a woman came over the loud speaker and chimed "Margiela shoppers you have 5 more minutes to shop."
There was a small line at 2pm but it moved every 15 minutes, and the H&M staff was doing a great job restocking. I spoke to one employee who said he luckily was in at 11am and escaped the morning rush. The earliest people starting lining up at this new location was 6am. I bet this was not the case at the flagship 5th Avenue store.
If you want to head over from work don't fret, by 6pm they may not have as much backstock anymore but most people seemed to not realize the Columbus Circle store is open. And there is always Ebay which has a lot of options already.
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