H&M, updates coming to Southern Park

By Kalea Hall | January 8, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

BOARDMAN

Southern Park Mall will soon be home to an 18,000-square-foot H&M store.

The Swedish apparel retailer is tentatively scheduled to open in early summer in the Sears concourse of the mall where Foot Locker used to be, said Sheryl Raulin, director of mall marketing.

“I think everyone is going to be excited about this,” Raulin said. “It is a very positive development for us and the community.”

H&M’s graphics should be going up this weekend. The store offers collections of clothing for women, men, teenagers and children.

H&M has about 3,500 stores in 55 markets. H&M was No. 31 on Forbes’ list of the World’s Most Valuable Brands with revenue listed at $20.28 billion worldwide as of May 2014. H&M’s full-year report for 2014 comes out Jan. 28.

Southern Park announced the new store’s expected arrival Wednesday along with other changes expected this year for the mall.

The American Eagle that opened in 1984 at Southern Park will be remodeled by the end of April. The store will remain open throughout the construction at a relocated space.

The last time the space was remodeled was 10 years ago, a spokesman said.

The store will get new flooring, new paint and an updated fixture package complete with a new cash and wrap.

Victoria’s Secret in the Sears concourse will relocate to the former Gap store, which closed in spring 2014, in the J.C. Penney concourse. The new location, expected to open in the spring, will put Victoria’s Secret closer to its sister store, Pink. It will be 1,000 square feet larger than its current location.

The Sears concourse has been doing “quite well,” Raulin said.

Clothing stores Maurices and Torrid are some of the newer additions to that area. Foot Locker moved to the other side of the concourse.

“There have been a lot of very positive developments along that way,” Raulin said.