Swedish multinational retail-clothing company
Fashion and quality at the best price.
BRIEF OVERLOOK
H&M exists in 55 countries with 3,500 stores and as of 2013 employed around 116,000 people. The first store was opened on the high street of Västerås, Sweden in 1947. It had 2,325 stores at the end of 2011, 2,629 stores at the end of August 2012 and opened its 3,000th store in September 2013 in Chengdu, China. It is ranked the second largest global clothing retailer, just behind Spain-based Inditex (parent company of ZARA).
The design team in the company’s Sweden office controls the steps of production, from merchandise planning to establishing specifications, and production is outsourced to approximately 800 factories in Europe and Asia. These facilities are used for horizontal division of labour, rather than being integrated
HISTORY
The company's founder Erling Persson opened his first shop in Västerås, Sweden called "Hennes", which exclusively sold women's clothing. "Hennes" is Swedish and means "for her" and/or "hers". In 1968 Persson acquired the hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss, which led to the inclusion of a menswear collection in the product range and the name change to "Hennes & Mauritz" (H&M).
H&M exists in 55 countries with 3,500 stores and as of 2013 employed around 116,000 people. The first store was opened on the high street of Västerås, Sweden in 1947. It had 2,325 stores at the end of 2011, 2,629 stores at the end of August 2012 and opened its 3,000th store in September 2013 in Chengdu, China. It is ranked the second largest global clothing retailer, just behind Spain-based Inditex (parent company of ZARA).
The design team in the company’s Sweden office controls the steps of production, from merchandise planning to establishing specifications, and production is outsourced to approximately 800 factories in Europe and Asia. These facilities are used for horizontal division of labour, rather than being integrated
HISTORY
The company's founder Erling Persson opened his first shop in Västerås, Sweden called "Hennes", which exclusively sold women's clothing. "Hennes" is Swedish and means "for her" and/or "hers". In 1968 Persson acquired the hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss, which led to the inclusion of a menswear collection in the product range and the name change to "Hennes & Mauritz" (H&M).