BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS

South Coast Plaza H&M; opens at noon

As of noon today, Orange County welcomes the opening of the much anticipated Swedish apparel store H&M.; The first store in the county is scheduled to open in South Coast Plaza’s Crystal Court in Costa Mesa.

Two stores will open at the shopping center. The larger store will be on the third floor of the Crystal Court wing, carrying clothing for women, men, teens and children. The second store, offering mostly women’s clothing and accessories will be housed on the second floor of the future Bloomingdale’s wing of the main part of the plaza.

The new M line of clothing designed by Madonna will be available at the new stores as well, according to Plaza officials.

The first 200 customers to the store will receive a free H&M; T-shirt, as well as gift cards valued up to $300.

A third store is scheduled to open Friday at the Irvine Spectrum.

Newport company to appear on ‘The Office’

As a devout fan of NBC’s comedy “The Office,” President Jim Walker of Newport Beach-based Olympic Wire and Equipment is eager to see one of his bright red, four-foot balers starring alongside Steve Carell on tonight’s episode of the Emmy-winning series.

Guest directed by actor and director Harold Ramis, the episode will center on a safety-training day prompted by Carell’s character’s dangerous antics around the Dunder-Mifflin Paper Co. warehouse. Used for crunching cardboard, plastic and paper products for recycling, the Olympic baler will be featured as the warehouse foreman demonstrates the proper operating techniques for several pieces of equipment.

“Our equipment is known for being safe … so it’s kind of a spoof on that,” said Walker, who first used a baler while working in a grocery store as a teen. “We’re so excited and so fortunate to be the ones they picked for the show.”

Walker hopes viewers will take more than laughs from “Safety Training,” set to air at 8:30 tonight.

“I hope it also pushes people to recycle,” Walker said. “In today’s world, recycling is something everybody needs to think about, and I think its really neat that … [NBC is] showing they care about the environment and also finding a way to make it funny.”