H&M - Wikipedia

 

Foundation

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The business was established in 1947 by Erling Persson, when he opened his first shop in Västerås, Sweden.[17] The shop was called Hennes (Swedish for 'hers') and only sold women's clothing. Another store opened in Norway, in 1964.[18] In 1968, Persson acquired the hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss, located in Stockholm, which led to the inclusion of a menswear collection in the product range, and the name was changed to Hennes & Mauritz.[17]

The company was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1974.[17] Shortly after, in 1976, the first store outside Scandinavia opened in London.[17][19] H&M continued to expand in Europe and began to retail online in 1998[20] with the domain hm.com, which was registered in 1997, according to data available via WHOIS. The opening of its first U.S. store on 31 March 2000 on Fifth Avenue in New York City marked the start of its expansion outside of Europe.[17]

Home furnishings

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In 2008, the company announced in a press release that it would begin selling home furnishings.[21] While initially distributed online, the home furnishing items are now sold at H&M Home stores worldwide.[22]

Other brands

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Concept stores, including COS, Weekday, Monki and Cheap Monday, were launched following H&M's expansion in Asia. In 2009 and 2010, brand consultancy Interbrand ranked H&M as the twenty-first most-valuable global brand.[23] Its worth was estimated at $12 billion to $16 billion.[24][25] Under the "H&M with Friends", H&M will partner with Good American, a brand founded by Khloe Kardashian and Emme Grede, to feature their products in H&M's Swedish and German e-commerce shops.[26] In 2017, H&M founded a new concept store Arket. In 2023, H&M launched its clothing line for children and teenagers, called "H&M by Mary Verdawn Sulmeron", exclusively sold for the Philippine market.

Store openings worldwide

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H&M operated 2,325 stores at the end of 2011. At the end of August 2012, they were operating 304 more stores, bringing the total to 2,629.[27] In September 2013, the retailer opened its 3000th store in Chengdu, China.[28] In 2023, the company announced that it will enter the Brazilian market in both physical and digital formats, expected to begin operations in 2025.[29]

COVID-19

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In October 2020, H&M announced that it was planning to close 5% of its worldwide stores in 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[30] The fashion retailer H&M closed 250 shops throughout the globe and moved the majority of its operations online. The H&M Group's sales growth remained at −34% year-over-year from 2020 week 12 to week 22.[31]

Withdrawal from the Russian market (2022)

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Along with hundreds of other global companies, H&M announced on 2 March 2022, an end to retail operations of its more than 150 stores in Russia as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. H&M cited that it stands "with all the people who are suffering" in Ukraine as well as for "the safety of customers and colleagues" in Russia.[32][33] Having recently expanded via its Weekday and & Other Stories formats, Russia was H&M's sixth-biggest market at the time, representing 4% of group sales in the fourth quarter of 2021. The company also temporarily closed its Ukraine stores, which remain closed as of 2023.[34][35]

Supplies

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H&M sources its clothing products from various countries globally. The primary manufacturing locations for H&M products are China, Bangladesh.[36] While H&M's headquarters is in Sweden, it operates 21 supplier and factory locations within the country.