H&M
Hennes & Mauritz or H&M, is a Swedish clothing company, known for their inexpensive clothing offerings. It was established in Västerås in 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. H&M operates in 19 countries and has more than 40,000 employees.
Though its price point is well in the discount fashion range, they have marketed their brand to the high-end fashion consumer, both through ads in fashion magazines and the placement of their stores in areas more typically associated with expensive designer stores.
H&M in North America
H&M launched its first American outlet on March 31, 2000 on New York's famous Fifth Avenue. Following the success of that flagship, additional outlets were opened in the SoHo area and in Upstate New York in Syracuse, Utica, and West Nyack.
H&M expanded into Canada in 2004, opening its first Canadian location in Toronto's Fairview Mall. The Canadian flagship location, however, is being built as part of a renovation of the Eaton Centre and is expected to open in Fall 2004.
H&M in Europe
In 2003, H&M announced its entry into the traditionally exclusive Milan fashion scene. Initial analysts declared that the high-fashion Italian market would be extremely resistant to the entry of this low-end competitor. It remains to be seen if H&M and other low-end retailers will be able to find a market there.
In February 2004, The Gap, another prominent international retailer, sold off all of its German outlets to its competitor, H&M.
See also: List of Swedish companies
