H&M Celebrates Grand Opening Of First Store In Hawaii And Supports AccesSurf

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Mar 28, 2014, 01:05 ET

NEW YORK, March 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- H & M, Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M), one of the world's largest retailers known for offering fashion-forward apparel and quality basics, celebrated the debut of its new location in the heart of Waikiki. The Swedish retailer kicked off festivities last night with an exclusive VIP event. Invited guests were the first to preview and shop the amazing spring collections for men, women and teens, party in the trendy surfer-inspired hangout and enjoy a special performance by popular indie band Best Coast. H&M also unveiled a one-of-a-kind installation featuring artwork of renowned local surf photographers Mike Coots, Sarah Lee and Zak Noyle.

The new H&M Waikiki flagship store officially opened to the public today at noon. The first 500 shoppers in line received an Access to Fashion Pass valued from $10 to $500 in addition to a limited-edition tote bag capturing the local surf photographers' most popular shots. There were also other fantastic opening offers starting at $3.

"We want to thank the people of Hawaii for a successful kick off of H&M's first store in the Islands. Hawaii's warm reception and pure aloha played a key role in making this grand opening special," said Daniel Kulle, President of H&M North America. "We look forward to strengthening our community partnerships, building new relationships and celebrating our continued growth and expansion of H&M in Hawaii."

Joining H&M in celebrating its Honolulu opening was AccesSurf, a non-profit organization that provides surfing instruction and therapeutic educational programs on water recreation for people with disabilities. AccesSurf enriches lives by assisting families with access to the beach and the ocean in a barrier-free environment. H&M provided a $10,000 donation to support its programs and also gave 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of a limited-edition H&M t-shirt featuring Coots, Lee and Noyle's images.

"We are honored that such an iconic and global brand selected AccesSurf as its grand opening charity partner," said AccesSurf founder Mark Marble. "This generous donation will support the efforts of our over 300 volunteers and the countless hours spent making the ocean an accessible playground for all."

Over 1200 excited customers lined up to be among the first to shop the new location. The Waikiki store has hired 160 local employees, including 20 that have returned home to Hawaii from the mainland.

H&M was established in Sweden in 1947. Today there are 311 stores in the U.S. and approximately 3,100 stores in 53 markets worldwide.

For images from opening morning at H&M Waikiki Business Plaza, please click here
For images from opening night at H&M Waikiki Business Plaza, please click here

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) was founded in Sweden in 1947 and is quoted on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. The company's business concept is to offer fashion and quality at the best price. In addition to H&M, the group includes the brands & Other Stories, Cheap Monday, COS, Monki and Weekday as well as H&M Home. The H&M Group has around 3,000 stores in 53 markets including franchise markets. In 2012, sales including VAT were SEK 140,948 million and the number of employees is more than 104,000. For further information, visit hm.com.

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SOURCE H&M