H&M on track for expansion |
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| Thursday, 23 April 2009 | |
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Swedish fashion retail giant Hennes & Mauritz AB said yesterday that it is on track to open
225 stores this year, despite the global slowdown.
Spokesman Nils Vinge told The Wall Street Journal that while the company has acquired several stores from bankrupt competitors and run the risk of financially strapped mall operators reneging on agreements, "we certainly have the resources and capacity to have 225 net openings, opening more [stores] than we are closing". Last year, the company opened 234 stores and closed 18. As of February, it had over 1,748 stores worldwide. Aside from plans to open five or six stores in China this year - its latest a debut store in Beijing (opening Thursday in the newly renovated Qianmen strip south of Tiananmen Square) and 15th there so far, it will also open in key markets such as the Middle East and Japan. In 2010, the company will debut its first store in South Korea. |
