Summary
H&M is a Swedish company founded in 1947. It is a family owned company controlled by Stefan Persson and family. H&M act in the fashion industry and are one of the really big global players with 2078 stores in more than 30 countries. In 2009 they launched H&M Home which sells interior textiles through internet. Recently H&M have launched several new store concepts. Other than the H&M stores there are now also Weekday, Monki, COS and Cheap Monday stores. H&M’s new concept stores and their success will probably play a greater role in the future if H&M wish to continue their fantastic growth figures. There are also uncertainties of H&M’s future since they are in the middle of a shift of expansion focus from the European and North American markets to China, Japan and Russia. H&M’s first years on these new markets seem to have been good and these markets will grow ever more important in the future. Another very important aspect for H&M is the future direction the global economy will take. Since H&M is based in Sweden but they do a lot of their trading in foreign currency the exchange rates has a very big impact on the profit. The economic development in China and other markets where H&M has a lot of their fabrication will also have an impact on the future profit margins. All in all H&M have been and still are a great achieving company but the future poses great new challenges that H&M has to conquer in order to live up to their great history. H&M’s environment and business
Business areas
H&M's business concept is: to offer fashion and quality at the best price. H&M offers a wide range for women, men, teens and children. H&M also sell cosmetics and home textiles. H&M has since their launch in 1947 stayed very true to their core concept. They have competed through maintaining a cost leadership strategy. Since 2004 they have started to branch out and create new concepts in order to expand further in markets where they are very well expanded and to