Why is H&M stores closing? Hey readers! Listen Up! Sorry to announce, but we have to do so because it is necessary for H&M fans; this particular fashion brand will close several branches across the UK in 2023.
H&M Group is also known as H & M Hennes & Mauritz Hennes. It is a multinational company specializing in clothing for men, women, teenagers, and children.
Erling Persson owned H&M Group; Helena Helmersson later owned the company. It belongs to Sweden, it was believed that H&M Group operates more than 4000 stores, and now it operates 4,801 stores under multiple company brands in 75 geographical markets by June 23, 2022.
H&M become the world’s second-largest clothing retailer.
Highlights:
- Type: Public
- Trade Name: H&M
- Industry: Retail
- Established in: 1947
- Area Served: All Over The World
- Headquartered In: Stockholm, Sweden
- Number of Locations: 4,801 Stores (2021)
- Products: Clothing, Accessories
- Revenue: 25.8 Billion US Dollars (2019)
- Net Income: 1.5 billion US Dollars (2019)
- Total Equity: 6.919 billion US Dollars (2016)
- Operating Income: 1.8 billion US Dollars (2019)
- Owner: Stefan Persson (28 percent)
- No. of Employees: 107,375 (2021)
- Website: hm.com or hmgroup.com
H&M stands for Hennes and Mauritz, as the store was initially owned by Hennes and opened its first store outside Sweden in Norway. When this store opened, it was called Hennes, but later, when Erling Persson bought the hunting and fishing store Mauritz Widforss in Stockholm, Sweden, which dealt in men’s clothing at that time.
Let’s explore it further to know everything about H&M and its closing stores. We hope we can answer all your questions, such as How many H&M stores are closing in the UK in 2023, Why it is closing its stores, and many more.
Is H&M Closing Its Stores In The UK In 2023?
Yes! We know it is heartbreaking news for all H&M lovers because the company has announced that they are shutting down the doors for some branches while declaring that the fashion brand said, “rapid change in customer behavior.” It led the company to shut the doors of some stores in the UK.
The company shut down its 240 stores in 2022 due to low sales. Later, in 2023, the series for its stores’ closure is still being continued.
The company was believed to be closing many of its high-street shops in the UK in 2023. Many branches such as the Isle of Wight, Burton’s, Maidenland’s, Hartlepool, and a handful of stores are now on stake across the UK.
According to sources such as The Philadelphia Inquirer, “H&M will be further shrinking its Center City footprint by closing its store at 1530 Chestnut Street sometime next year. Company officials would not confirm an actual date, but employees told the publication the store would close on January 4.”
How Many H&M Stores Closing In 2023?
The company was in a massive loss last year, and it was believed that they are not rising so far, which forced 1,500 working staff to quit their jobs, and the company shut down many stores, around 336 stores globally.
But this shutdown procedure has yet to be stopped. It continued in 2023, and the fashion retailers announced to close several more stores in the UK this year. The company had already closed 240 stores last year and still shuttering more stores in 2023. Let’s have a look at a full list of the H&M closing stores:
- Maidenhead, Berkshire
- Newport, Isle of Wight
- Hartlepool, County Durham
- Burton, Staffordshire
After shuttering many of its stores in the UK till now, it was believed that only 194 H&M retail stores remain open in the United Kingdom as of February 2, 2023.
Why is H&M Closing Its Stores In 2023?
H&M is closing several stores in the UK, and people curiously want to know the reason behind it. In this section, we will share the possible reasons for its discontinuation. Before starting, we would like to put light on some statements stated by the company’s CEO and the representatives officially before its closure.
One of the representatives stated, “In the last few years, we have seen a drastic change in customer behavior, and we cannot ignore that. We are evaluating and developing our fashion brand company to meet all the customer’s requirements and want to make alterations to give the best possible shopping experience ever, whether the customers do online shopping or offline. Still, we would like to give our best.”
They added, “This means that we sometimes need to close stores.” The chain’s profits were almost wiped out in the September-November quarter by soaring costs. The world’s second-biggest fashion chain’s chief exec Helena Helmersson said: “Rather than passing on the full cost to our customers, we chose to strengthen our market position further.”
She added, “It is a dynamic pricing strategy; it will still be very challenging in the first quarter of 2023. And then, of course, we need to increase prices, but not to cover the whole.” She added, “Although 2022 was a turbulent year characterized by negative external factors such as geopolitical challenges and substantial cost inflation, our sales increased by 6%. Having left the worst negative effects of the pandemic behind us, war broke out in Ukraine. We quickly decided to pause sales in the countries affected and later wind down our business in Russia and Belarus. Our decision to wind down the business in Russia, which was an important and profitable market, has significantly impacted our results.”
Let’s see what other competitors said about the closure of the second largest retailer in the world, i.e., H&M. There are so many interviews, and one of the companies went on it and stated, “About two years ago, H&M closed its store on Walnut Street. When they targeted to close the stores then, brokers said they were actively searching for other tenants and completely shifting their focus from the fashion brand to the food and entertainment business.”
How Many Other Shops Are Closing Its Stores?
H&M stores closure is the biggest shock for their customers, but it’s not enough, guys; we know it may break your heart, but do you know your other favorite brands are also set to close, including M&S, B&M, Clintons, Argos, Iceland, and Homesen.
These high street-name companies closed their stores in the UK after being majorly impacted by poor sales, the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost of living crisis, and rising energy costs.
According to recent data, it was estimated that there were almost 17,145 shops across the United Kingdom shut down last year (2022). In 2021, it was 11,449 in number.
Who Is The Biggest Competitor Of H&M?
H&M is the second largest retailer in the world that offers a wide variety of clothing and accessories for men, women, and children, even though the biggest competitor of H&M is GAP.
GAP is a multichannel retailer in the world and the biggest retailer of accessories, clothing, and personal care products for women, men, and children.
The second biggest competitor is Uniqlo which is a retailer of casual wear designer, manufacturer, and retailer.
The third one is Inditex operating as a clothing and fashion retailer.
The other ten competitors are:
- LoadProof.
- Enable Rebate Management.
- Sewio RTLS.
- RSView32.
- Applegate PRO.
- Oracle Global Trade Management.
- OEConnection (OEC)
- MyUS.
- PayCargo
- Network Design
What Is The Future Of The H&M?
The future of H&M is clear, as this fashion brand operates thousands of stores worldwide, and the UK is the one that acquires most of its stores. Although the company has shut down its almost 240 stores, it doesn’t mean that this is the end for the most popular fashion brand H&M. The company is also opening around 95 new stores.
Not only is the UK the main target of the company, but the company targets many other countries, and they have planned to shut down the doors of the stores. It was believed that when the conflict onset between Russia and Ukraine, H&M shut down its more than 100 stores in Russia.
Russia is the sixth largest retail market, covering around four percent of the sales worldwide. Additionally, the company closed its online sales to Russia.
Conclusion And Opinion
We’ve concluded that H&M shut down its stores worldwide, and the majorly impacted country is the UK, where hundreds of stores closed till now, and more are at stake in the upcoming months in 2023. H&M stated we were closing our in-store and online stores and added, “sometimes needs to close stores.”
We know this blog contains information that may leave many customers baffled. Still, it is necessary to tell you about it in detail so that your time will be well-spent whenever you visit the store for this particular fashion brand.
