Jul. 8--Swedish clothing giant H&M will open a store in the newly redeveloped Northgate mall this fall, mall officials said Wednesday.

Founded in Vasteras, Sweden, in 1947, Hennes & Mauritz -- now branded as H&M -- opened its first U.S. store in New York City in 2000. The chain landed in the Bay Area in 2005 with a pair of stores in San Francisco's Union Square. It now operates in 34 countries and has 73,000 employees worldwide. H&M officials could not be reached for comment.

H&M and 10 other retailers are the latest to sign up for the reinvented center, which is undergoing a $75 million transformation. The 725,000-square-foot property in Terra Linda, now simply called Northgate, is set to be unveiled in November. Its owner, Santa Monica-based Macerich Co., also owns The Village at Corte Madera. The mall is open during construction.

Other new apparel stores include skate and surfer company Tilly's, casual clothing store Buckle, Children's Place, Shiekh Shoes and Footlocker. Returning to the mall will be GameStop, Sunglass Hut, Lenscrafters, GNC and Verizon Wireless.

The four new restaurants are BJ's Brewhouse, Tomatina, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panera Bread. Combo King, Gymboree, Kohl's, PacSun, Regis Salon, Roadside BBQ, Sbarro, See's Candies, Subway, Vans and Wetzel's Pretzels will be featured as well.

Marin, a mature and in some ways an underserved area with its established homeowner population, is appealing to growing retailers, said Kim Choukalas, vice president

of leasing for Northgate.

"It's a really rare opportunity for these retailers that are in expansion mode," she said of Northgate's remodel. "It's a fresh concept in an established and desirable marketplace."

"We have always liked the trade area," said John Burgess, Tilly's vice president of real estate. "Given the investment that Macerich is making to create a first-class center, we feel this is a great time to become a member of the community."

Read more Business and stocks stories at the IJ's Business and stocks section.

Contact Jennifer Upshaw via e-mail at jupshaw@marinij.com

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