The growth target of the H&M group is to increase sales in local currencies by 10 –15 percent per year with continued high profitability.
In 2017 new markets for H&M stores will be Kazakhstan, Colombia, Iceland, Vietnam and
Georgia. The first H&M stores in Kazakhstan, which opened in Almaty in the second quarter – and the first stores in Colombia, which opened in Bogotá, have made a very good start.
Six new H&M online markets were opened in spring 2017: Turkey, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia, all of which have had a good start. The H&M online store is today available in 41 markets, and with the addition of Cyprus and the Philippines the H&M online store will soon be available in 43 markets.
For full -year 2017 approximately 500 new stores are planned to open, with a focus on growth markets. Most of the new stores in 2017 will be H&M stores, while approximately 70 to 80 stores will consist of the newer brands COS, & Other Stories, Monki, Weekday and ARKET.
After summer 2017 ARKET will open its first physical store on Regent Street in London and will simultaneously launch its online store in 18 European markets. This first store will be
followed by the opening of another store in London, and thereafter store openings in
Brussels, Copenhagen and Munich. In spring 2018ARKET will open its first store in Stockholm, located on Biblioteksgatan.
H&M Home will also continue its rapid expansion, with approximately 60 new H&M Home departments planned for 2017. The first standalone H&M Home stores are planned to open in 2018.
In parallel with the expansion the store portfolio is being optimized as regards the number of stores, store space, rebuilds and relocations, to continually ensure that the store portfolio is right for each market. As a part of this, approximately 100 stores will close, giving a net addition of around 400 new stores for full year 2017.
India will be a new H&M online market in 2018. Additional new online markets will open
in 2018. Planned new H&M store markets in 2018are Uruguay and Ukraine.
