In a display of the city's obsession with shopping, first fashion enthusiast to make it to H&M's launch had lined up 30 hours before opening time
Customers cheer at the store opening
It was a regular Saturday morning at Lower Parel's Phoenix Mills, as we absent-mindedly tugged at the gate of the Palladium side of the mall, without realising that it doesn't open until 11 am. Finding it locked, we followed the sound of an MC who was at it making non-stop announcements.
(From left) The first, second and third visitors to the store
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As we approached the scene of the buzz, we noticed that the courtyard of the mall looked quite unlike its calm exterior. There were hordes of women dressed in high heels and sunglasses, crop tops and ripped denims, patiently waiting, in a scene that reminded us of the unending queues at the Shirdi temple in Nashik. Red barricades marked the winding boundaries that led to the mall's latest entrant, the H&M store. Around 1500 shopaholics stood outside the door (some squatted on the floor) of the outlet.
"People have been here since last night!" we heard a tween say, as she plonked her sunglasses on her head. A volunteer, however, confirmed that the first shopper in the queue had lined up 30 hours before the opening and received a gift card of Rs 10,000, while the next two fashionistas in line received gift cards worth Rs 7,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively. The stores's first few customers happened to be boys, and the fourth one was a girl who we were told was furious at her loss. We decided to brave the lines just to figure out what the fuss was all about.
Customers cheer at the store opening
Just ahead of us, a pre-schooler complained to a yummy mummy about the weather. She was promptly pacified with a 'another five minutes' promise (we were in the queue for about half-an-hour after that). At 11 am sharp, the MC did a dramatic countdown, the DJ played Maroon 5's, Moves like Jagger and many members of the crowd couldn't help but acknowledge the song as they bobbed heads and shook their shoulders to the groovy sound.
As the line started to move forward volunteers handed out bottles of mineral water to the crowd. It felt as if we were part of a retail marathon. There was mayhem inside the store as well. Getting anywhere close to a trial room seemed impossible. The collection, as is the case with those in other Indian metros, was nowhere close to the spunky lines we've seen in international shopping pit stops like London.
The 31,000 sq ft H&M store, marked a late debut in Mumbai after making its presence felt in Delhi and Mohali. As we got away from the maddening crowd, we walked past an empty line of stores including Zara, Burberry and a few others. It was just another day at the office for Mumbai's shopaholics.
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