High-profile retailer moves from one San Jose mega mall to another

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 long-time store at Santana Row in San Jose.

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 is one of the clothing retailers that focuses on this segment.

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 at Santana Row.

For more than a decade, the H&M store occupied a high-profile space at Santana Row.