Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
ANOTHER designer launch and another early morning crush of consumers once again greeted staff members at the H&M boutique in Bahrain City Centre which opened its doors early at 8am to cope with the crowds.
The predicted swarm of shopaholics turned up with one objective … to get their hands on the retailer’s latest new collaboration with trendsetter Anna Dello Russo.
This outlet’s team is getting well versed at handling these special occasions as the Swedish clothing store has in the past teamed up with some of the biggest names in the fashion industry including Versace, Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Jimmy Choo.
The combination of class and affordability predictably causes temperatures to rise as fashionistas are overcome by a serious bout of shopping fever. In the wake of the recent Marni mania, Dello Russo’s highly-anticipated new collection created heaps of hysteria with bracelets priced from BD15.900 and a pair of earrings at BD10.900.
Once again a fashion-frenzied mob queued up in front of H&M in the wee hours of the morning, some as early as 6am, all on a mission to grab as many of the new range of coveted jewellery, luggage and sunglasses as well as the occasional ornate feather hat.
Those hoping to get their hands on the best picks grabbed an energy drink and waited in a long line patiently. However, once again, plenty of others who preferred to hit the snooze button on their alarm clocks sent their nannies and drivers on a snatch-and-grab mission.
But even the best laid plans can go astray in the face of a pushing and shoving pack. According to production assistant Suzanne Wilbrink, 24, from Riffa Views, some shoppers were upset that they couldn’t start grabbing items immediately as their line was divided into smaller groups, possibly for health and safety reasons, to enter the store.
She said: “When the shutters came up I saw some serious pushing and shoving from some women trying to get ahead, which continued when they got into the store as well. Apparently some people were divided into groups to enter and that upset a lot of those who had been waiting for an hour or so.
“But I still managed to grab a few items off the shelves which I was really satisfied with and truly wanted.”
Fashion blogger Shouq Al Ebrahim, 22, from Riffa, praised the organisation and enjoyed the experience. She said: “I loved how this time it was so organised. The way they separated groups of 20 made shopping a lot easier. The members of staff were super friendly and very helpful. I really had a great shopping experience.”
Once shoppers reached the shelves, it was a case of first-come, first-serve mayhem. Women grabbed whatever they could of the range of items on sale and literally threw them into their shopping bags in a rush to the till.
The boxes, once neatly displayed on the shelves, were knocked onto the floor and snatched up by whoever was nearby.
Some sneaky shoppers even removed bracelets and necklaces from the boxes and put them back on the shelves in a bid to throw rivals off the scent.
Eva Gavin, 32, a business development manager, from Seef, was surprised at the amount of shoppers that filled the store. She said: “This was my first experience at something like this and I was impressed by the amount of Arab women clamouring for designer goods.
“I was a bit overwhelmed so I just grabbed whatever I could and threw it into my bag. To my further surprise I later discovered that some of the boxes were empty. I did manage to get my hands on a bracelet and necklace though. I then had enough courage to dive back into the mayhem to locate matching earrings which I later found.”
By 8.10am most of the items had disappeared off the shelves and H&M staff began trying to restock some areas. Often, they didn’t have enough time to put items on display as hands quickly snatched them.
Meanwhile, the shopping madness continued. Women were spotted frantically grabbing at glass box displays and removing bracelets off the mannequins.
By 8.20am more people were still piling into H&M with hopeful eyes searching for one of Dello Russo’s designs. Some fashionable females looked defeated when they kept picking up empty boxes. Eventually their frowns turned into smiles when they saw the in-store trading begin and the glimmer of hope was back.
Women carrying already paid-for items huddled together in corners of the store asking who had what as some really didn’t appear to know what they had picked up.
It was a great day for H&M as one shopper walked out with eight bags full of accessories (assisted by an entourage of bag carriers) and proudly held aloft a receipt totalling BD1,499.
H&M has outlets in Bahrain City Centre and Seef Mall and has been brought to the kingdom under the umbrella of M.H. Alshaya Co, the retail arm of the Alshaya Group which was founded in Kuwait in 1890.
