H&M SF Grand Opening by stechico.

Talk about your regular Saturday morning… I went to the city to hang out with some peeps and roll to the H&M Grand Opening (150 Powell St.). I got to Powell St. terminal via BART around 9:45am. As you walk up the hill, you can already see the chaos. Hundreds were already lined up anticipating the store’s ribbons to be cut.

The cops, helicopters and security guards were out in force to keep an eye on things, and keep order. It was no surprise that this thing was a great Grand Opening. H&M did a wonderful job spreading the word about their first installations on the west coast.

They kept the crowd (lined up around the block, literally) in order by having security guards act as “line monitors” perse. This gave cutters the wrong idea, and kept things fair for everyone who have been waiting there for a long time. I overheard people saying that the average wait was 1-2 hours during the morning. That’s just too crazy.

So, I skipped that morning fiasco and headed over to grab some brunch at King of Thai (aka. King Thai, or Purple Thai between my coworkers and I). After getting some chicken satay, hoping over to the different stores in the area and some refreshments, we headed over to the H&M line.

The time is now 2:30pm. It wasn’t as bad as the security guard said it was about a 10 minute wait now. But low and behold, we got in the store in less than 5 minutes. The inside, well… that’s another story.

It was just complete pandemonium. Imagine shopping during Christmas Eve, only in November. It was freaking hot, humid and stuffy. It felt like Summer time all over again.

Meanwhile, after an hour of browsing the men’s section, I came up empty handed. Nothing really caught my eye, except for some nice suits that were just not justifiable for me to get at the moment. I haven’t even worn one since Liz & Joel’s Wedding two weeks ago, and during my interviews back in February-March.

Anyways, I figured that everyone who shopped today at H&M would probably be wearing the same clothes this week. That’s just gonna be hilarious. So for those who work and live in/near the city, be on a look out for people wearing the same H&M clothing next to each other. Take a photo if you can. HA!