The grand opening of retailer H&M’s Union Station store drew scores of visitors Thursday, including Hill staffers on lunch hour.

“For us, it’s really about opening and inviting everyone in today, showing strength in light of recent events,” said Nicole M. Christie, acting communications manager for North America at H&M.

Eager shoppers waited in line while employees entertained the masses with cheers and dancing to the music of DJ Bounce as everyone waited for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Among the customers visiting H&M on its first day of business were a number of Hill staffers, whose lanyards gave them away. No members of Congress were seen.

The new store joins more than 30 other H&M locations in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area and is the 281st store to open in the United States. The space previously housed a Barnes & Noble, which closed on March 1.

The 8,000-square-foot area is being used as the company’s first-ever boutique-style space and will feature both ladies’ and men’s styles. Although the average H&M is 20,000 square feet, this location was expected to see 600 visitors in its first day of opening, according to Ashlee Griffin, the Union Station store manager.

For the 90,000 people that pass through Union Station’s doors daily, opening a business there meant capitalizing on commuters at one of the nation’s largest transit hubs.

“It gives us a unique advantage to focus and hone in on what’s working here so we can tailor and bring in certain parts of collections, maybe even our capsule collections,” Christie said. “We understand the market that we are in, so we could have after-work events for the D.C. professional. We try to think of unique ways to think locally and connect; this really is a great space and atmosphere for it to happen.”

See scenes from the opening on our Pinterest board.