H&M hushes expansion talk

 

Swedish fashion giant H&M has denied speculation it is on the brink of following Zara and Gap into the Australian market.

Hennes & Mauritz, Europe’s second-largest clothing retailer, currently operates around 2000 stores over 38 markets including China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.

Recent newspaper reports suggested the brand is looking to gather pace on competitor Inditex SA, which is set to launch two flagship Zara sites in Australia in April 2011.

As exclusively reported in the previous edition of Ragtrader, Zara’s local property management firm revealed it is aiming for a total of around 20 sites.

This follows the launch of two flagship stores for American retail giant Gap, which is currently trading in Melbourne and Sydney. H&M spokesperson Charlotta Nemlin told Ragtrader there were no immediate plans to follow suit.

“Australia is one of many interesting markets for H&M but at the moment there are no concrete plans as to if, and when, we will open stores there.”

Assia Benmedjdoub