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More than 1,000 people lined up at The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on Friday in anticipation of the H&M grand opening at noon. “I think we should have closed school today,” Debbie Negri, the mall's marketing director, told the Palm Beach Post. “There are a lot of students and moms that want to come shop here. A lot more people are going to want to see this.”
H&M's first flagship location in Palm Beach County—and South Florida— rings in at 20,000 square feet spread out over two floors. The Post reports that shoppers drove from as far as Miami and Tampa for opening day festivities.
“This is great. This is fabulous. This will bring a different style to South Florida,” gushed Gissel Biganski, 28, of West Palm Beach. She was among the first 500 or so people allowed into the store when it opened, and she rifled expertly through racks of clothes. “I go to New York just to shop at (H&M),” she said.· 1,000 people lined up for the H&M opening in Palm Beach Gardens, FL [PBP]