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H&M

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Hennes & Mauritz AB
Company typePublic (Nasdaq Stockholm: HM B)
IndustryFashion
FoundedVästerås, Sweden (1947)
HeadquartersStockholm, Sweden
Key people
Stefan Persson (Chairman of the board), Rolf Eriksen (President and CEO)
ProductsClothing, cosmetics
RevenueSEK 104,041 million (2008)[1]
SEK 20,138 million (2008)[1]
SEK 15,294 million (2008)[1]
Total assets118,790,000,000 Swedish krona (2018) Edit this on Wikidata
Number of employees
53,430 (FTE, 2008)[1]
Websitewww.hm.com

Hennes & Mauritz AB (operating as H&M), is a Swedish clothing company, known for its fast fashion clothing offerings for women, men, teenagers and children. H&M has more than 1,700 stores in 33 different countries and employ over 73,000 people.

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.

RAWWR dinosaur ate my cupcake

Grand Opening of H&M in Hong Kong.
H&M store on 125th Street in Harlem, New York City
H&Ms store in the Ginza district in Tokyo, Japan.

H&M's first store abroad was opened in The United Kingdom. Then from 1964 onwards, H&M embarked upon a major expansion programme many further stores in Europe, including the UK, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany. In the 1990s, the first stores opened in Finland, France, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands. H&M has continued to expand its business and today H&M has an extensive network throughout much of Europe.

H&M opened its first Canadian store in March 2004. There are currently 46 stores in Canada, in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. They will be opening a store in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2009.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. As of January 2009, H&M has at least 169 individual stores in the United States.

H&M opened its first Asian store (also H&M's first franchise) in Dubai in 2006. Kuwait was then followed by Dubai and opened at Salmiya at first. There are currently plans of opening stores in Tel Aviv in 2010.[2] H&M expanded into East Asia in March 2007, with its first store opening in Central Hong Kong on March 10, 2007. Kylie Minogue opened the first store in East Asia, where she also exclusively launched her range of swimwear, "H&M loves Kylie". First store was opened in mainland China in 2007. The first Japanese store was opened in Ginza on September 13, 2008, while a second store was opened in Harajuku in November 2008. Another store is planned for the Shibuya shopping district.[3] H&M has signed an agreement to open its first store in South Korea. The store will be located in the best business location in Myungdong in Seoul and is planned to open during the spring of 2010.[4]

Although there are no H&M stores 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.[5]

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[6], although the clothes were still available in less fashion-sensitive areas until the company redistributed them to meet with demand[7]. 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[8]. In June 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[9] 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[5]. In the fall of 2008 the Japanese company Comme des Garçons was selected as guest designer. For spring and summer 2009, the British designer Matthew Willamson has been invited to be the guest designer.[10]

Brand

H&M has the 66th most recognized brand in the world, worth $11 billion.[11]

The full company name Hennes & Mauritz was rebranded to H&M to simplify worldwide perception of the brand.

The value of the brand is reinforced by ownership of two letter domain hm.com. The domain was registered in the early 1990, but data on the first registration is lost. In 1998 Hennes & Mauritz was able to buy the domain hm.com from a company called A1 in a non-published domain transaction.[12] Today Hennes & Mauritz General is one of the few corporations worldwide to own a two letter domain name.[13] However the brand is not reflected by the HMB Stockholm Stock Exchange ticker symbol.

The corporate mission of H & M

H&M describes its mission as “Fashion and quality at the best price”. H&M's goals for 2008 have been to intensify the sales in the existing stores, as well as to increase the number of new stores by 10% to 15% per year. In the year 2007 193 new stores opened its doors and 16 closed. Expansion and maintaining of financial stability are H&M's strategic goals. In the last 5 years the revenues raised by 73%, including value-added tax and the earnings per share increased by 139%. [14][dubious – discuss]

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",[15] and thus "providing the look of Jil Sander for less".[16] The collections range from fundamental basics to sophisticated cocktail dresses and sleek mens' suits. COS's target group is the "mid-market consumer"[17] who either cannot be reached with H&M products or wants to trade up. COS merchandise is designed by Rebekka Bay (women's) and Michael Kristensen (mens), and is manufactured in Europe (80%) and Asia (20%).[18] 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, Paris, Den Haag, Berlin (2x), Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and London (3x). There are no COS outlets outside Europe, yet. COS stores are designed by interior architect William Russell, a British Pentagram partner.

Home Fashions

In a press release, [19], H&M announced that it would begin selling Home Fashions focused on textiles similar to their clothing brands. The pieces in the collection are available for every room of the house, with a economic pricepoint, much like the other Swedish company, IKEA. As of 2009, it is distributed exclusively by H&M's internet catalog, so it is only available in countries where H&M is sold online, such as Sweden, Finland, and Germany. Retail prices are moderate, with a bed set at about €49.90, and towels around €15.90.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Annual Results 2008" (PDF). Hennes & Mauritz. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  2. ^ H&M signs franchise deal in Israel
  3. ^ Carter Associates
  4. ^ First store in South Korea
  5. ^ a b Australian singer Kylie Minogue chosen for H&M beachwear campaign - EnjoyFashion
  6. ^ Designplagg tog slut på en timme
  7. ^ H&M för snobbigt för Lagerfeld
  8. ^ H&M - Press
  9. ^ "The Sims(tm) 2 H&M Fashion Stuff". Retrieved 2007-12-25.
  10. ^ [1]
  11. ^ Case Studies on Companies that own a Two Letter Domain
  12. ^ Historic Archive of the very first HM.com Website
  13. ^ List of Large Companies that own a Two Letter Domain
  14. ^ "H&M Facts 2008". H & M HENNES & MAURITZ AB. 01-29-09. Retrieved February 14, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ a b H&M: COS - Collection of Style
  16. ^ Chain reaction: H&M, The Times, May 2, 2008
  17. ^ BBC News: H&M heads back to basics
  18. ^ H&M: A new chain of stores - COS
  19. ^ "H&M Home Fashions". H & M HENNES & MAURITZ AB. 11-28-08. Retrieved April 10th, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)

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