H&M

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Hennes & Mauritz AB
Type Public (OMX: HM B)
Founded Västerås, Sweden (1947)
Headquarters Stockholm, Sweden
Key people Stefan Persson (Chairman of the board), Rolf Eriksen (President and CEO)
Industry Fashion
Products Clothing, cosmetics
Revenue SEK 92,123 million (2007)[1]
Profit ▲ SEK 13,588 million (2007)[1]
Employees 68,000 (2008)[1]
Website www.hm.com

Hennes & Mauritz AB (operating as H&M), is a Swedish clothing company, known for its inexpensive and fashionable clothing offerings for women, men, teenagers and children. H&M has more than 1,500 stores in 28 different countries and has more than 68,000 employees.

Contents

[edit] History

The company 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. Erling's son Stefan became CEO in 1990 and Chairman of the Board in 1998. Today the majority of H&M's clothing is manufactured in China.

[edit] H&M in Europe

H&M's first store was opened in Sweden. Then from 1964 onwards, H&M decided to open more stores in Europe, including the UK, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany. In the 1990's, the first stores opened in France, Finland, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands. H&M continued to expand and more stores opened in the rest of Europe and more opened in the same countries. Today, H&M has an extensive network in France. There are 33 stores in the Paris metropolitan area.[citation needed] The UK has 11 stores in Central London, 6 in Glasgow, 4 in Manchester and Birmingham, 3 in Edinburgh, and 2 in Belfast, Liverpool and Leeds.[citation needed]

[edit] H&M in North America

[edit] Canada

H&M opened its first Canadian store at Toronto's Fairview Mall in March 2004. Following great success, more stores were opened in Toronto, including the Toronto Eaton Centre flagship store and others in the Greater Toronto Area. In 2006, the first Quebec locations was opened,March 30, in the Fairview Mall, Pointe-Claire. The first store in the Quebec City region opened on September 6, 2007; a second one opened October 18, 2007. There are currently 33 stores in Canada, located within the provinces of Ontario (19 stores), Quebec (11 stores), and, most recently, Alberta (3 stores).

Expansion into Western Canada started in 2007 with two stores in Alberta (West Edmonton Mall opened April 12, 2007) and Calgary (Market Mall opened May 10, 2007). A second store opened in Calgary at Sunridge Mall on March 13, 2008. The first store in Metro Vancouver opened at Coquitlam Centre in Coquitlam, British Columbia on August 23, 2007. A second store at Burnaby Lougheed Town Centre opened on April 24, 2008. The third store, Western Canada's Flagship Store opened in Downtown Vancouver in Pacific Centre on May 22, 2008. The 2 story store carries everything H&M has to offer (except for cosmetics). Ten stores are expected for the Greater Vancouver area.

The Sherbrooke, Quebec location opened recently on April 10th, 2008. Montreal will see it's first downtown store open at the corner of Rue Ste-Catherine and Peel by Fall 2008.

[edit] United States

H&M opened its first US store in New York on 5th Avenue and 51st Street in March 2000. There are now 8 additional stores in Manhattan alone.

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

Massachusetts has eight stores, including Downtown Crossing as well as one on Newbury Street in Boston and one at the Cambridgeside Galleria in Cambridge. H&M also operates seven stores in Maryland, six in Northern Virginia, and two in Washington, D.C.. There are two H&M stores in Chicago - one on Michigan Avenue and one on State Street. The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, is home to another. Since the fall of 2006, H&M has opened three stores in the St. Louis metropolitan area at the St. Louis Galleria, West County Center, and Chesterfield Mall.

Also in the Midwest, H&M opened a store in Indianapolis in 2005 at Circle Center Mall downtown. A second location in Indianapolis opened in November 2007 on the north side of the city in Castleton Square.

A new store opened on November 21, 2007 at the new lifestyle portion of the Stamford Town Center mall in Stamford, Connecticut.

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 in Union Square at Powell and Post Streets. Later, H&M opened another, having three stores in the vicinity of about 4 square blocks, and subsequently a fourth at Stonestown Galleria. In 2006 and 2007, H&M opened new stores in several suburbs including Walnut Creek with a 2 story store opening in the summer of 2008 in Pleasanton at Stoneridge Mall

The first Southern California store opened on September 21, 2006, in Pasadena, offering only the woman's line. A second store opened in 2006. Santana Row in San Jose, California, recently got a store in October of 2007. On December 15, 2007, the newest H&M Store in Northern California opened at the Great Mall in Milpitas.[2] [3]. Stores elsewhere in California [4]. H&M opened several stores in California during 2007; two stores in South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa and one store in the Irvine Spectrum Center. Also, one hot notch store was opened at the Westfield Topanga in the Canoga Park section of Los Angeles. Since then, three more have opened up at the Brea Mall and The Shoppes at Chino Hills, and in The Americana at Brand in Glendale.

H&M has confirmed a 2008 opening of a two-story flagship store in Atlanta at Atlantic Station at 17th and Market Streets and a 16,000 sq. ft. opening in Seattle's University Village. [5]. According to the websites of two super regional Atlanta-area malls (Mall of Georgia and North Point Mall), H&M will open smaller store concepts in addition to their flagship store at Atlantic Station in Midtown. As of April 2008, H&M operates stores in 19 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

The first H&M in Nevada opened at the Miracle Mile Shops in the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on October 4, 2007. There is also a location in Town Square farther down the Las Vegas Strip. Soon after H&M opened a location in Riverside, California at the Galleria at Tyler on October 18, 2007.

H&M opened its first store inOrange County, California in April 2008 at the Brea Mall in the City of Brea, California.

H&M opened its first new store in San Diego County, California on May 22, 2008 at the Otay Ranch Town Center in the City of Chula Vista.

H&M opened its first store in San Bernardino County, California on May 23, 2008 at The Shoppes at Chino Hills in the City of Chino Hills, California.

H&M is formally entering the Arizona market in Spring 2009 with the opening of its first store in Scottsdale at Scottsdale Quarter.[6] There has also been unconfirmed interest by H&M pertaining to the opening of additional stores at: Scottsdale Fashion Square, Tempe Marketplace, SanTan Village, and Chandler Fashion Center.

As of May 22, 2008, H&M has a total of at least 149 individual stores in the United States.

[edit] H&M in Asia

H&M opened, in September 6, 2006, a store in Dubai's Mall of Emirates. Other stores are now open in that country, and also in Kuwait. [7] A franchise agreement with popular Kuwaiti retailer Mohammed H. Alshaya, which already managed other stores such as The Body Shop secured the expansion. Plans for 14 additional stores are being made in other Middle-Eastern countries.[8] On March 7, 2007, the first store opened in Qatar.

Grand Opening of H&M in Hong Kong.
Grand Opening of H&M in Hong Kong.

H&M expanded into East Asia in March 2007, with its first store opening in in Central Hong Kong on March 10, 2007. The H&M flagship store has 4 stories including a basement, ground floor, first floor and second floor. It is one of the biggest fashion retailers in Hong Kong just behind Lane Crawford. Three additional stores opened at Festival Walk (end of September 07), Elements Mall in Kowloon Station (October 07) and Langham Place (November 07). Kylie Minogue opened the first store in East Asia, where she also exclusively launched her range of swimwear, "H&M loves Kylie".

In addition, two Shanghai stores opened in early 2007. Also in the autumn of 2008, the first H&M store in Japan is set to open in Harajuku and Ginza of Tokyo.[9]

[edit] H&M in Australia

In April 2007, Pop superstar Kylie Minogue teamed up with H&M to introduce a swimwear line called, “H&M loves Kylie”, featuring a theme of Australia. “When we think of Australia and glamour, we think Kylie, who is such a stylish person,” H&M design head Margareta van den Bosch said in a statement.[10]

[edit] Collaborations

In November 2004, selected H&M stores offered an exclusive collection by fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. The press reported large crowds and that the initial inventories in the larger cities were sold out within an hour[11], although the clothes were still available in less fashion-sensitive areas until the company redistributed them to meet with demand[12]. In November 2005, the chain launched a collection by Stella McCartney and, in November 2006, by avant-garde Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf. H&M launched another collaboration with Madonna in March 2007, designed by the popstar[13]. In June of 2007 the company worked with game developers Maxis to create a stuff pack for the latter's The Sims 2 computer game, H&M Fashion Stuff[14] In November 2007, the chain launched a collection by Italian designer Roberto Cavalli. It was reported that the clothing sold out very quickly. Also in 2007, another design with Kylie Minogue was launched in Shanghai, China[10].

[edit] COS

COS (Collection of Style) is a fashion concept started by H&M with a fashion show at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the opening of a signature COS store on Regent Street on 16 March 2007. COS begins where H&M ends: featuring mainly subtle, monochrome colors, the minimalist, clean-cut pieces in the collections for men and women are created with a focus on "quality in terms of the fabrics, fit and finish"[15], merging "high fashion attributes [...] with ground level pricing"[16], and thus "providing the look of Jil Sander for less"[17]. The collections range from fundamental basics to sophisticated coctail dresses and sleek mens' suits. COS's target group is the "mid-market consumer"[18] who either cannot be reached with H&M products or wants to trade up. COS merchandise is designed by Rebekka Bay (womens) and Michael Kristensen (mens), and is manufactured in Europe (80%) and Asia (20%)[19]. Prices range above those for comparable items in the H&M mainline stores, but supposedly below comparable ready-to-wear collection clothing. A men's dress shirt retails at about € 50,00, a suit at or below € 350,00. As of spring 2008, signature COS stores - the exclusive points of sale for COS collection items - can be found in Antwerp, Brussels, Copenhagen, Den Haag, Berlin (2x), Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and London. There are no COS outlets outside Europe, yet. COS stores are designed by interior architect William Russell, a British Pentagram partner.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Annual Report 2007. Hennes & Mauritz. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  2. ^ H&M - New locations
  3. ^ http://www.ocbj.com/industry_article_pay.asp?aID=02916532.6435763.1371110.956154.1008795.856&aID2=105461
  4. ^ Microsoft PowerPoint - stateofthecity07.ppt
  5. ^ Business & Technology | U Village to add trendy H&M | Seattle Times Newspaper
  6. ^ International retailer H&M coming to Scottsdale | Arizona Business, personal finance, technology news for East Valley and Phoenix | eastvalleytribune.com
  7. ^ H&M
  8. ^ Franchise Business Opportunities | Middle East Franchise Plan
  9. ^ H&M tar steget till Japan
  10. ^ a b Australian singer Kylie Minogue chosen for H&M beachwear campaign - EnjoyFashion
  11. ^ Designplagg tog slut på en timme
  12. ^ H&M för snobbigt för Lagerfeld
  13. ^ H&M - Press
  14. ^ The Sims(tm) 2 H&M Fashion Stuff. Retrieved on 2007-12-25.
  15. ^ H&M: COS - Collection of Style
  16. ^ H&M: COS - Collection of Style
  17. ^ Chain reaction: H&M, The Times, May 2, 2008
  18. ^ BBC News: H&M heads back to basics
  19. ^ H&M: A new chain of stores - COS

[edit] External links

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