H&M

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

H&M
Company logo
Type of Company Public company
Founded Västerås (1947)
Headquarters Stockholm
Key people Stefan Persson, Chairman
Rolf Eriksen, CEO
Industry Clothes store [1]
Products Clothing, cosmetics
Revenue 61,262.2 million SEK (2005)
Website www.hm.com

H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB (operating as H&M), is a Swedish clothing company, known for their inexpensive and fashionable clothing offerings. It was established in Västerås, Sweden, in 1947 by Erling Persson, though at the time it only sold women's clothing and was called Hennes, Swedish for "hers." In 1968, Persson acquired the premises and inventory of a Stockholm hunting equipment store named Mauritz Widforss. Included in the inventory was a supply of men's clothing, prompting Persson to expand into menswear. Accordingly, he renamed the store Hennes & Mauritz, later abbreviated to H&M. H&M has more than 1300 stores in 24 different countries and has more than 50,000 employees. The Church of Sweden is a major shareholder in the chain.[2]

Though its price point is well in the discount fashion range, they have marketed their brand to the high-end fashion consumer, both through ads in fashion magazines and the placement of their stores in areas more typically associated with expensive designer stores. In November 2004, selected H&M stores offered an exclusive collection by fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. Throughout the world, the collection sold out within an hour. In November 2005, the success was repeated with a sell-out collection by Stella McCartney. Avant-garde Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf were next in line with a collection in November 2006.

Contents

[edit] H&M in Europe

In 2003, H&M announced its entry into the traditionally exclusive Milan fashion scene. Initial analysts declared that the high-fashion Italian market would be extremely resistant to the entry of this low-end competitor. It remains to be seen if H&M and other low-end retailers will be able to find a market there.

In February 2004, Gap, another prominent international retailer, sold off all of its German outlets to its competitor, H&M.

H&M is co-operating with Stella McCartney and introduced a line by her in the autumn of 2005. The planned face for this campaign was British model Kate Moss. On 20 September 2005, H&M announced they had dropped Moss for the advertising campaign of their autumn clothes range, stating that her image was "inconsistent with H&M's clear dissociation of drugs" in light of recent cocaine-use allegations. The contract was reportedly worth £4 million a year. Singer and model Tamyra Gray was featured in a short film and promotion campaign for the new denim jeans for women as well.

In August 2006, H&M began selling a specific line of clothes inspired by Madonna's Confessions Tour, including a track suit designed specially with the pop diva in mind. Autumn of 2006 also sees the Swedish clothing chain using a version with a string arrangement of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" in their new autumn TV ads. [3]

H&M is well established in all EU countries except Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta, as well as in non-EU countries Norway and Switzerland.

[edit] H&M in North America

[edit] United States

H&M store on 125th Street in Harlem, New York City

H&M launched its first American outlet on March 31, 2000, on New York's famous Fifth Avenue. Following the success of that flagship, additional outlets were opened in the SoHo, Gramercy, and Herald Square areas of Manhattan, followed by outlets in Upstate New York in Syracuse, Utica, Albany, and West Nyack. H&M also opened two stores in Philadelphia. H&M opened a store in the state of Massachusetts in late 2000 in Boston's Downtown Crossing shopping district. In the fall of 2005 a store opened in Boston's chic shopping district on Newbury Street. It was its latest appearance in the state, its first was at the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside in August of 2000. The brand has expanded since 2000 to other regions of the country, including Chicago and its outlying suburbs. H&M also has 4 stores in the Maryland, Northwest Washington D.C. area. Two H&M stores opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one being at the new Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills and the other in the South Side district downtown in 2005 and 2006 respectively.

The first two H&M stores to appear on the West Coast of the United States opened in San Francisco, California, on November 19, 2005. One store is located at 150 Post Street (next to Brooks Brothers) and the other store—H&M's bigger West Coast flagship—is located at 150 Powell Street near Union Square. Recently, H&M opened another store inside the newly constructed Westfield Shopping Centre having three H&M stores in the vicinity of about 4 square blocks. In the summer of 2006, H&M opened a new store in Walnut Creek, the Bay Area's shopping hub, as well as in the Sunvalley Mall in Concord, a neighboring city.

The first Southern California store opened on September 21, 2006 in Pasadena. The second store, at the Beverly Center in West Los Angeles, opened on November 9, 2006. Other Southern California locations anticipated to open by summer 2007 include the Hollywood & Highland Complex in Hollywood[4], Santa Anita Fashion Park in Arcadia, Topanga Plaza in Canoga Park, the Irvine Spectrum in Irvine[5], and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa[6]. There have been rumors of stores opening at The Grove in Los Angeles and at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica; however, as of November 2006, these rumors are unsubstantiated.

Stores at the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, Nevada and the Scottsdale Fashion Square east of Phoenix, Arizona have also been mentioned, but have not been confirmed.

As of December 2006, H&M operates stores in 18 states and the District of Columbia.

[edit] Canada

H&M opened its first Canadian store at Toronto's Fairview Mall in March 2004, followed shortly by the Canadian flagship store at Toronto Eaton Centre. Following great success, more stores were opened in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, notably in the Yorkville district. In 2006 the first Quebec locations were opened, including the main Montreal store at Centre Rockland.

Today there are 26 stores in the Canadian division, all located within the provinces of Ontario (19 stores) and Quebec (7 stores). Expansion into Western Canada will start in 2007 with two stores in Alberta at West Edmonton Mall and Calgary's Market Mall. Stores in Vancouver, British Columbia are expected but no firm locations or dates have been released.

[edit] Facts and Figures

[edit] H&M in the Middle East

Earlier in the year, H&M announced plans to expand its market into the Middle East, most notably Dubai and Kuwait. In September of 2006, new stores opened in Dubai: one at the Mall of Emirates on September 6, the other at Ibn Battuta Mall on September 13. On September 20, a new H&M store opened at the Marina Mall in Kuwait.[7] A franchise agreement with popular Saudi Arabian retailer M.H. Alshaya, which already manage other stores such as The Body Shop secured the expansion. Plans for 14 additional stores are being made in other Middle-Eastern countries.[8]

[edit] H&M in Asia

H&M plans to expand into China in 2006, with its first store to open in Hong Kong in November 2006.[9] Two Shanghai stores are already being planned for opening in early 2007.

The first H&M store in Japan is set to open in Harajuku, Tokyo sometime in 2008.[10]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

OMX Stockholm 30 companies of Sweden

ABB | Alfa Laval | Assa Abloy | AstraZeneca | Atlas Copco | Autoliv | Boliden | Electrolux | Eniro | Ericsson | Hennes & Mauritz |
Holmen | Investor AB | Nokia | Nordea | Sandvik | SCA | SEB | Securitas | Skanska | SKF | Stora Enso | Svenska Handelsbanken |
Swedbank | Swedish Match | Tele2 | TeliaSonera | Volvo | Vostok Nafta |