H&M at Fresno's River Park drew huge crowds

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The grand opening of H&M at River Park in Fresno drew huge crowds from all over the Valley.

A human tunnel of cheering H&M employees welcomed the first customers to set foot inside the store. Which was a much more organized version of this morning. When dozens of early birds rushed the line.

They were all vying to be among the first 100 people in line -- who were awarded discount cards worth anywhere from $10.00 to $300.00.

In the hours leading up to the noon opening, the store's 40 or so employees pumped up the crowd, and the party-like atmosphere included a DJ.

From men's and women's to children's fashions, the crowd swarmed the 25,000 square foot store.

The Swedish retailer has built up quite a following worldwide and right here in the Central Valley.

In fact, when River Park asked the public what store they wanted to replace Borders, H&M was #1.

H&M says California is its largest and strongest market. So when they came to Fresno looking to expand.

Tracy Kashian with River Park said, "We were able to show them the Borders space, show them the survey that Fresno already wanted them, it was just a great get for us."

And for Valley shoppers too.