Charlottetown H&M brings 'new life to the mall'

The latest addition to the Charlottetown Mall H&M opened Thursday morning.

The new store was constructed where the former Target store used to be, occupying approximately 50 per cent of that space which has been empty since April 2015 when Target closed.

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"It's a great space, nice and big," said Emily Scarlett, spokesperson for H&M Canada.

"H&M requires a minimum of 15,000 square feet, this store is just over 20,000 so it's a nice, big store, we like to be able to open with as much of the H&M brand as possible, so the location was perfect."

'We were really thrilled'

She says the company is in expansion mode across Canada, and has had its eye on Charlottetown for more than a year.

"We were really thrilled when this location became available, because now we can finally give the people what they've been asking for."

Approximately 45 Islanders have been hired as managers, visuals merchandisers, and full-time orpart-time sales advisors.

The store expects to hire more people for busy times, including the Christmas season and the back-to-school rush.

New store a second lease on life for the Charlottetown Mall

For people who work at the mall, the hope is that this new anchor tenant will attract more traffic.

Stephanie Mayne has worked at Claire's Accessories, across from the new H&M, since that space was occupied by Zellers several years ago.

She said there was a lot of disappointment when Zellers closed, excitement when Target opened, and fear when that store closed in 2015, leaving a giant vacant space in the center of the mall.

"Now that H&M is here, it's brought a new life to the mall," said Mayne. "It's freshened up the look of the mall itself. People are really excited about it. It's something new, it's not just a department store, it's a whole new thing for the Island."

Mayne is hopeful that the new H&M will bring more people to the Charlottetown Mall, and said before H&M was announced, she was worried about the future of the mall.

"I still am, there's still a lot of retail space that needs to be filled throughout the mall," says Mayne. "But H&M is a really good push, it's definitely going to help other businesses recognize the mall as a shopping destination again."

More than 700 lined up for store launch

Scarlett said the company was expecting a couple hundred for the brand's launch in P.E.I., and staff was pleasantly surprised that hundreds more turned up lining up outside the store as early as 7 a.m.

"It went fantastic, we had more than 700 people in line when we opened doors at 11 a.m.," she said.

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