H&M to open new Tauranga store in April

Wednesday, 28 November 2018

H&M country manager Hans Anderson talks in the lead up to its Commercial Bay store opening in 2018.

Swedish fast fashion retailer H&M is opening its fifth Kiwi store in Tauranga next year.

The store will open in April at the $150 million shopping development Tauranga Crossing, 6km from central city at the junction of State Highway 29, SH36 and Takitimu Drive.

Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stan Gregec said the announcement had created a lot of buzz in the city.

'H&M is around the country in the big cities and a big international brand. I didn't know they could come to a city so small as Tauranga, but it's great they see potential for growth here,' Gregec said.

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Tauranga Crossing chief executive, Steve Lewis said H&M would be a big drawcard for the opening of the new mall.

'The customer response to our development so far has been fantastic and we are already sensing real excitement for the opening of stage two in April. We are expecting significant numbers on the opening day, and are looking forward to welcoming the community into their new shopping mall,' Lewis said.

'Their decision to open a store at Tauranga Crossing further reinforces the growth of the region and Tauranga Crossing as the pre-eminent retail destination in the Bay of Plenty.'

H&M opened its first New Zealand store in Auckland's Sylvia Park mall in 2016 and now has stores in Britomart, The Crossing in Christchurch and Queensgate in Lower Hutt.

The new store is expected to bring about 50 new jobs.

H&M New Zealand sales manager Daniel Lattemann said Tauranga's population and economic growth had encouraging prospects for the company.

'The population growth has been strong in recent years with many people relocating to the area,' Lattemann said.

Demand for a broader range of shops and the plans the plans for Tauranga Crossing made the new store viable for H&M, he said.

Economic development agency Priority One chief operating Greg Simmonds said H&M's decision to open in Tauranga showed the completive nature of the city's retail sector.

'It's fabulous to have a brand as big as strong as this and associated with big cities in the world coming to Tauranga,' Simmonds said.

'Tauranga has had strong population growth in the last five years, supported by unprecedented levels of job growth and business growth.'

Tauranga is the country's fifth-largest city with a population of 128,200 in 2016, up 48,400 from 10 years earlier, surpassing Dunedin.

At the time of the opening of its Britomart store in Auckland's Commercial Bay, H&M New Zealand former country manager Hans Andersson said bricks and mortar stores were still a priority over e-commerce.

'We want to grow our bricks and mortar before online comes. Today online is less than 10 per cent of our global sales,' Andersson said.

H&M said it did not have immediate plans to open any more stores in the country.