Tuesday, February 7, 2012

H&M At The Avenues

emarketingassociation.ning.com

If you live in the Jacksonville, FL area then you probably heard that H&M will be opening at The Avenues Mall. I am so excited about this! I love H&M and its aesthetic of providing fashionable and trendy clothing at reasonable prices. Now, I no longer have to travel to another city to get my "H&M fix."

However, I'm surprised that this retail giant decided to open its store at The Avenues. This mall is becoming, for lack of a better word, ghetto. It all started with the closing of Abercrombie & Fitch and Talbots. Although I am not a frequent shopper at either of these stores, they do attract a certain clientele that has now taken its business elsewhere (i.e. St. John's Town Center). The Avenues also recently closed its Pottery Barn store, leaving yet another empty lot amidst stores like Cotton On and Trio East (have you ever heard of or shopped at either of these stores? Exactly). However, H&M will occupy the former Pottery Barn on the first floor, as well as The Children's Place and Kirkland's on the second floor. Yup, a two-story H&M! I'm sure the format will be similar to other H&M stores I've been to (women's and men's clothing on the first floor, children's clothing upstairs). 

I just hope that this location will carry a really great stock. I've been to some smaller H&M stores that only seem to have half the line seen on their website, while I've been to larger H&M stores in Paris and Las Vegas that carry the designer collections. Either way, it's great that Jacksonville is expanding its retail market and I'm very excited about the possibility of other future store openings (c'mon Ikea!)

4 comments:

Gemma said...

Wow! Hi, I just stumbled upon your cute blog! I grew up in Jacksonville and I think it's amazing how much it's changed! I haven't lived there since the 90's but my parents still live there. I rarely get to visit but when I do I always hit up Anthropologie (usually it's a weekend visit and seriously, I will go every day for the 3 days I'm there!) and now I guess I have to make a trip down to the Avenues for H&M! I do hope they have a children's section because I have 3 little ones and I love buying them clothes from there! Have fun with your blog, I'll continue reading!

iloveorlakiely said...

Hi Gemma! Thanks so much for taking the time to read my blog. Yeah, Jacksonville has definitely changed in the past few years as far as its shopping options are concerned. H&M should be opening in the early summer and I'm sure there'll be a kids section for your little ones :)

Anonymous said...

The Avenues mall "Ghetto"? Clearly you haven't been to Regency or Gateway area lately. Now that's ghetto. I think the Avenues and the St. Johns Town Center are the best two malls in Jacksonville. The shopping center out by the airport isn't so bad either. But it's Jacksonville, so we're limited. I would've thought they might have put H&M in the Town Center, but either way putting in the Avenues will still attract a decent crowd. I mean considering they opened a Forever 21 out there, I'm sure H&M wil attract a smiliar audience.

iloveorlakiely said...

Yes, the Regency and Gateway malls are far more ghetto, but you have to admit - the Avenues is not the premier shopping destination it used to be, at least not when compared to the St. Johns Town Center. And "ghetto" might not have been the best word to use to describe the Avenues, but I tend to rate a mall's "ghetto-ness" based on the number of teenage loiterers I see, which seemed to be plenty in numbers the last few times I've been there.