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SAN FRANCISCO -- Swedish retailer H&M opened its first West Coast store here on Saturday in a prime downtown location, with the launch getting an extra lift from shoppers clamoring for Stella McCartney's fashions. A second unit opened nearby.
Executives with the fast-fashion chain of 1,100 stores in 22 countries planned their California debut for three years, said H&M managing director Rolf Eriksen, standing near a table of $29.99 cowl-neck sweaters.
"The location here was great," he said. "That's important for the first time you're in a new area. It's like a new country, moving to California. Of course we'll go south [to Los Angeles], also."
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said in announcing H&M's arrival last June that he expected the company's sales in the city to be $50 million a year. Eriksen declined to forecast sales, but...