8 Things You Might Not Know About H&M

[TrilldeBlasio]

Found this blog piece about H&M and wasn't really sure what forum it was best suited for. Thought some of you might enjoy this:

http://bit.ly/1JB4Agc

 

[ter1413]

Couldn't you summarize? Or post the 8 things in the thread so that people wouldn't have to open an "unknown" link?

 

[TrilldeBlasio]

Source: http://blog.minerapp.com/8-things-you-didnt-know-about-hm/

If you’ve walked through a mall or down a city street, chances are you’ve probably seen an H&M store, or you can at least easily recognize their famous red moniker. The retail giant exists in 57 countries, has over 3,500 stores worldwide and as of 2015, employs around 132,000 people. They’re also the 21st most-valuable global brand, having an estimated worth of $12–16 billion. Those are some crazy numbers, but it’s not all that surprising if you think about it. H&M is known for its designer-inspired pieces, but they have become particularly successful because they offer them at extremely affordable price points. You can find a classy outfit for the workplace, a casual outfit for your free time, and a cool sexy look for your night out all in one place sending flocks of recurring shoppers to their stores on a daily basis. But what does H&M even stand for, and how did they get started? Just like we did with Forever21previously, let’s find out some surprising facts about this successful brand.

It all started in 1947

Founder Erling Persson opened his first retail store on High Street in Västerås, Sweden, which sold only women’s clothing. The store was called Hennes (which means “For Her” in Swedish). In the next 15 years, he would open two more locations in Stockholm, Sweden and then in Norway.

H&M is born

In 1968, Erling Persson bought Mauritz Widforss, a hunting and fishing equipment store. He salvaged the men’s clothing items from the hunting store, and began to sell them at Hennes. After the men’s items sold out immediately, Persson decided to permanently include a men’s line in all his stores. Later that year, he changed the name of all his stores to Hennes & Mauritz. The company decided the name would not translate well worldwide, so they shortened it. The H&M we know and love today, was officially born.

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Still based in Sweden

Throughout the thirty year span of 1970 to 2000, thousands of stores opened in multiple locations in all major cities within Europe, Asia, and the UK. Despite this major expansion, the design team remained at the company’s Swedish office. They still remain there today where they control the steps of production, from merchandise planning to establishing specifications, while production is now outsourced to approximately 800 factories in Europe and Asia.

H&M comes to the United States

Believe it or not, the first US Store did not open until 2000. It is currently still open, and is located on Fifth Avenue in NYC. There are now 378 more retail locations throughout the United States. That averages to about 25 new stores each year over the past 15 years.

Designer Collaborations

In 2004, H&M was the first brand to initiate collaborations with other designers, and creatives. The first collaboration was with Karl Lagerfeld, and continued with Stella McCartney, Madonna, Roberto Cavalli, Comme des Garçons, Jimmy Choo, Lanvin, Versace, David Beckham, Maison Martin Margiela, Isabel Marant and Alexander Wang to name a few. Each collection was received so positively by shoppers, it sold out within a day’s time in all stores, and within hours online. In November of this year, H&M will release their highly anticipated new collaboration with Parisian powerhouse, Balmain.

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In addition to the H&M stores, the company consists of five other brands

COS (Collection of Style)

COS is positioned at a slightly higher price point than what is typically associated with H&M’s fast fashion offerings. COS is currently operating globally with a total of 116 stores worldwide.
& Other Stories

& Other Stories was launched in 2013 and has 20 stores in 10 markets. The store is a fashion brand offering women a wide range of shoes, bags, accessories, and beauty products.
FaBric Scandinavien AB

In 2008 H&M purchased 60 percent of shares in the Swedish fashion company, FaBric Scandinavien AB, and bought the remaining shares in 2010 with price totalling SEK 552 million in cash.
Cheap Monday

Cheap Monday, known for its distinctive skull logo, is a full fashion brand and was launched in 2004.[The brand is available from many retailers worldwide,
Monki

The brand sells fashion for young women in stores in 13 markets, and is available online in 18 markets at monki.com

World’s Largest H&M

Located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 48th Street in New York City, this thing is 57,000 square feet – that’s approximately the size of an entire football field! It is the only H&M in the world that carries every single product that H&M makes, and includes a shoe lounge, a personal shopping service free to all customers, and an entire floor dedicated to the H&M Home Collection.



H&M is known for being extremely charitable

Starting in February 2013, H&M started offering their shoppers a 20 percent discount for a future purchase, in exchange for used garments that they bring into their stores. Donated garments will be processed by I:CO, a retailer that repurposes and recycles used clothing with the goal of creating a zero-waste economy. They also started the The H&M Conscious Foundation, which is an independent organization working to drive long-lasting positive change for people and communities. The current focus areas for this work are education, clean water and strengthening women. So far, the company has donated 700 million to these causes.

To find out more about the history of H&M, check out this cool timeline:
http://about.hm.com/en/About/facts-about-hm/people-and-history/history.html

 

[ter1413]

Tks.