The opening of Forever 21 in Barcelona

The day finally arrived (4th of June) and the long awaited store Forever 21 finally opened in La Maquinista, Barcelona.
This was the second opening of a Forever21 store I have been to (the other one was a year ago, in Times square, NY) and like the other opening they handed out free gifts (to the first 700 visitors) and gave everybody a 10% discount (for any shopping over 40 euros).



This time I was not disappointed when I stepped in to the store (like I was when I first visited the neighbour store Hollister) - the Forever 21 store was huge! More precisely 3500 square meters, according to an article in Lavanguardia.
There was a DJ playing just when entering the store just in front of the small section for men. There is also a small section for children, and then the rest were clothes, shoes and accessories for women (girls).

I spent a lot of time in the store looking around and all though the store was very nice, along with the customer service, I have to say I was more impressed by it when I was in NY. I don't know if it was because it was bigger there or because I don't fancy the collection this year as much as the one last year. I also don't know if it was my memory, but it also seemed that the prices were lower in the States. I have often referred Forever21 to a store with clothes like Topshop and prices like Primark. Nevertheless, I believe the prices were more like H&M prices and the quality of the clothes did not really reach Topshop standards.


So in the end I actually went out empty handed from the store. But all though I didn't find anything this time, I will definitely go back soon again. If you are lucky you can find really nice stuff to bargain prices in there and it is always nice to have alternatives to all the other highstreet stores - especially since you can't find a Forever 21 on every corner.

Forever 21 will arrive to Barcelona!

It's confirmed, Forever 21 will open in Barcelona in the shopping centre La Maquinista!! Exciting news!!

Nevertheless, it is unclear when it will open. According to this article: http://www.distribucionactualidad.com/noticia/9742/Retail/llega-forever21-low-cost-low-cost.html , Forever 21 will open in March. But according to the webpage of the Maquinista the shop will open in June 2011 (http://www.lamaquinista.com/W/do/centre/ficha-tienda-forever_21).

No matter when it will be, it seems like I will be returning to la Maquinista in the near future...

Hollister in Barcelona - part 2

As I before have announced on the blog; Hollister opened their doors in Barcelona last week. This, along with the newly opened Apple shop, I had to go and check out. So along with many, many other people, I decided to spend my Saturday afternoon in the shopping centre, la Maquinista. (To get there, take the red metro line to Sant Andreu).




After arriving my friends and I went directly to the Hollister shop. There, as much expected, two nice looking guys, only wearing red surfer shorts and sunscreen on their noses were standing in the entrance. As we entered, they greeted us with a "Hey, what's up?" with a well studied American accent (not entirely hiding the fact that they were Spanish though).


(unknown girls on the picture)

The shop was darkly lit with a TV screen in the back with a beach and very crowded. I started to search around for the guys who in an American shop just would stand around to say Hi and look good, but to my disappointment all the sales assistants were actually busy selling, and not all of them were that good looking.
I am not really a fan of the clothes, nevertheless, I had a look. The clothes were quite basic, some of it okay, but I would never buy anything in there because of the prices. 40 euros for a normal cardigan and over 20 euros for a basic t-shirt! Yes, sex sells but not to that extent!
Anyways, that was my opinion. A lot of people seemed not to share it as there were long lines by the dressers and by the till. Some of my friends tried to buy some clothes, but after waiting for 20 minutes to try the clothes on and then an additional 15 minutes in the queue without moving one meter, they gave up. So my advice would be, don't visit the shop on weekends!



I also visited the newly opened Apple store. The shop was nice and huge and looked exactly like any Apple shop you would find in the States. The only thing I can say about the shop is that I think it is a shame it is not in the centre of the city.



'
From this experience I can only say that I probably won't be taking the trip to La Maquinista before/if Forever 21 opens there.

Hollister in Barcelona

It's finally happening, the first Hollister in Spain will open next week, the 7th of October in "la Maquinista" (shopping centre).
I heard rumours that they are continuing the same recruitment processes as for their shops in the States - meaning there will be gorgeous people working there! To be continued...

First Apple store in Spain opens in Barcelona

Great news for all fan boys in Spain; The first Apple store in Spain has finally opened in the Maquinista, Barcelona. It opened yesterday, the 4th of September, and there was a great turnout of Apple fans.

More than 1000 people visited the 1300 square meter store, where they were invited to dounought and coffee. The most nerdy of the crowd even showed up with t-shirts saying "Barcelona 04.08.2010 I was there".

The next Apple shop in Spain will open in Madrid next Saturday.There are already around 35 Apple stores around Europe in countries such as the UK, France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.