SAN JOSE — High-profile retailer H&M has exited its site in one of San Jose’s mega malls and will move across the street to the other mega mall in the Bay Area’s largest city.
H&M is busy preparing a large store space at San Jose’s Westfield Valley Fair, a mall executive said. The new store should be open within the next few weeks.
“It’s fantastic to get H&M,” said Sue Newsom, senior general manager with Westfield Valley Fair.
The retailer, which focuses on a segment called “fast-fashion” women’s and men’s clothing and accessories, is expected to open its new store at Westfield Valley Fair sometime during the first half of April, Newsom estimated.
H&M has exited its longtime store at Santana Row.
Both Valley Fair and Santana Row are located at the corner of Stevens Creek Boulevard and Winchester Boulevard in San Jose.
The fast-fashion segment emphasizes the selling and marketing of affordable clothing that reflects the latest fashion trends.
H&M’s new store at Westfield Valley Fair will be located on the San Jose mall’s second floor near the ultra-popular Eataly Italian Food Market.
In 2012, Sweden-based H&M opened a Santana Row store totaling 27,000 square feet, a retail operation that filled the space of a former Border’s bookstore.
For more than a decade, the H&M store occupied the high-profile space at Santana Row.
Santana Row, despite the H&M departure, has been busy adding retailers lately at the destination complex, which includes shops, restaurants, homes, offices, hotel rooms and entertainment sites.
Cast, New Balance, Evereve, Todd Snyder, Solidcore, Kohler and 7th Avenue have completed rental agreements with Santana Row recently. Work was underway this week on the New Balance space.
Plus, Santana Row has also landed new dining establishments. Among these are Fitoor, an Indian restaurant, and Suspiro, a Peruvian-Spanish restaurant.
At Westfield Valley Fair, work is now underway to prepare the H&M store space.
The new store that H&M is opening is expected to total “more than 20,000 square feet,” according to Newsom.
“H&M is a perfect addition for us to further enhance our current collection,” Newsom said.
