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Downtown Raleigh courts H&M


RaleighRob

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Saw this in today's N&O: http://www.newsobserver.com/104/story/467528.html

Basically, H&M is really big up north...it's to clothes what Ikea is to furniture.

I visited one in NYC recently and all I can say is wow....people eat that stuff up!

They're basically high style trendy, like you see in high dollar department stores, but are lower priced than even Target.

If downtown Raleigh actually got one of those you can bet the foot traffic for shopping downtown would go up pretty darn fast! :shok:

From the article, the company sounds noncommittal. Maybe emailing them, giving them some encouragement to come here, would help! :thumbsup:

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This would be so incredible to have in our downtown. I have wanted an H&M here soooo bad as I don't have the money to shop at places like Saks and Nordstrom like I would like to. I don't even care if they were to go in one of the malls, however it would be best if they were downtown right on Fayetteville St.

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They'd probably be publicly noncommittal until the first shoppers walk into the door. As much as I think H&M would help downtown Raleigh, I would hope city leaders would not see this store as a cure-all. It won't be helpful if it's in a remote corner of downtown with a huge parking deck with no connectivity to the rest of the area.

Having said that, if they can bring them to town and incorporate their store into downtown, I'd say bring it on!

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This would be so incredible to have in our downtown. I have wanted an H&M here soooo bad as I don't have the money to shop at places like Saks and Nordstrom like I would like to. I don't even care if they were to go in one of the malls, however it would be best if they were downtown right on Fayetteville St.

Yup...it's a great store. Proves you don't have to be wealthy to look good.

The very idea that they would even consider downtown before any of the suburban malls or shopping centers, says alot about them as a company. I just hope the downtown folks keep trying hard on this one! It would get a lot of people downtown who rarely go there otherwise.

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I went in an H&M just last week in New York City. Of course I think I picked the busiest one to go in at the time because I could hardly walk around, but the store itself was awesome(Still nothing close to the frustration of trying to walk around Century 21 in downtown Manhattan across from WTC Ground Zero). Multiple levels, nice clothes, and a suprisingly nice sound system for a department style store that had great sound but didn't blow out your ear drums like Abercrombie in Crabtree.

I think sometime like that would be perfect for downtown and its exactly what the city needs to bring people down. Once you anchor a store like that, its only going to mean more things are to come. I'm all on board!!

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After thinking about this for a minute, the only place that I can think of right off hand downtown that would fit a store like this would be in the Kimble's (spelling?) furniture store that fronts Fayetteville Street. The would be a prime location for a store like H&M.

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This would be a sweet deal if downtown could land a high profile business like H&M. As much as I love independant stores, I think having some chains added to the mix would really help downtown's revitalization effort. People enjoy the conveniences of one stop shopping and a complete mix of choices in downtown would solidify it as a true shopping destination. Can't wait to hear more...

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After thinking about this for a minute, the only place that I can think of right off hand downtown that would fit a store like this would be in the Kimble's (spelling?) furniture store that fronts Fayetteville Street. The would be a prime location for a store like H&M.

I dunno...I have nothing against Kimbrell's. I don't shop there, but I'd be the last person to suggest kicking out one retail establishment for another.

There are other places downtown...the empty Jillians perhaps?

Or how about that abandoned warehouse at the corner of Morgan and Hillsborough? Good access to both downtown AND ncsu, which would be where a good deal of their customers would be coming from.

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I dunno...I have nothing against Kimbrell's. I don't shop there, but I'd be the last person to suggest kicking out one retail establishment for another.

There are other places downtown...the empty Jillians perhaps?

Or how about that abandoned warehouse at the corner of Morgan and Hillsborough? Good access to both downtown AND ncsu, which would be where a good deal of their customers would be coming from.

I saw something in the paper that said Kimbrell's will not be going anywhere. Who is to say they wouldn't rethink with a good offer though. Maybe site 1 or the Progress Energy land would be a suitable site.

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I was thinking H&M ground floor of site 2 and Ikea in the fround floor of site 3. Delivery trucks can sneak in from I-40 to the stores without rumbling through too much of downtown by being located on that end of town.

Hah! Raleigh's own official "Swedish block". :P

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Getting an H & M would be HUGE, bigger than landing a Nordstrom's or Saks. H & M is uberhip, cosmopolitan, chic, and don't just go anywhere. If Raleigh got one, it would signal that the city is hip, running with the big dogs. I think there is a good chance that Raleigh will get one, since the store has expanded aggressively throughout the Mid-Atlantic, particularly DC and Northern VA.

While we're out it, they should also lure Urban Outfitters downtown.

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I wouldn't want to kick Kimbrell's out, but if they were going to leave, that would be a large space that runs from Fayetville to Salisbury. It could feed off the redevloped N&O block there. Same thing with the remants of McCroys.

The other potential CBD sites:

- the empty lot at Fayetville/Davie/Wilmington - cool store windows along the Davie slope, close to the parking decks and the new CC.

- the empty lot at Cabarrus and Wilmington, across from BoA and Site 1, see above

- Site 1 - has two towers to anchor, though it may be too far along in planning.

- PE III - could anchor any of the four corners, but likely to be on the Wilmington side

- RBC tower - might not be enough room for this and RBC itself.... is probably too far along in planning (has been approved by city council) but would anchor the middle of Fayetville Street.

Urban Outfitters is already headed to Southpoint (opening this fall), but like the Apple store, I think there will be enough business to justify a Raleigh location after a year or so.

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Site 1 seems to be a very appropriate option for H&M. From the renderings it looks like Site 1 will be the most vibrant and exciting space on F Street. I'm not familiar with H&M but from you guys responses it appears that H&M would make a great anchor tenant for the retail portion of that project and be a catalyst to draw other retail. The fact that it is directly across from the new Marriott should also be a plus. Who believes that we are even talking about new retail coming to DT Raleigh.

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Well juding by the N&O article, it would seem more likely that the store (if it came) would be placed in a more high profile area than an area like the Jillian's building. Given the locations of where I saw numerous H&M stores in NYC last week they were all surrounded by other small stores. I would think something closer to center city would be more ideal than warehouse district type area. Since the article seemed to state that they would actual be willing to move into an up and coming area and if they can help the improvements with their stores then they're more happy to do so; I would definitely say that *IF* they came here, it would somewhere along the Salisbury, Fayetteville, Wilmington Streets area since that is our new up and coming area of Downtown, and if built and marketed correctly, a store like H&M would do incredible there. With the addition of condos, hotels, restaurants, nightlife, and so on...this would be area that H&M is looking for I beleive. However, I just base my assumptions on the areas in Manhattan NYC where I saw H&M stores located.

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the jillian's location is a no go mainly because the sign on the jillian's building states that they are planning a return. H&M would be great along with IKEA and Urban Outfitters plus some smaller stores need to be incorporated following the possible lure of H&M, maybe like Banana Republic. i'm not looking for downtown to become an upscale destination rather than a convinient destination. It doesn't need retailers like Nordstrom or Lacoste to become a retail destination in the Triangle.

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