H&M

Infobox Company
company_name = Hennes & Mauritz AB
company_
company_type = Public (OMX|SSE992|HM B)
foundation = Västerås, Sweden (1947)
location = Stockholm, Sweden
key_people = Stefan Persson (Chairman of the board), Rolf Eriksen (President and CEO)
industry = Fashion
products = Clothing, cosmetics
revenue =SEK 92,123 million (2007)cite web |url=http://www.hm.com/gb/investorrelations/financialreports/annualreports__investorannualreports.nhtml |title=Annual Report 2007 |accessdate=2008-04-14 |publisher=Hennes & Mauritz]
net_income = profit SEK 13,588 million (2007)
num_employees= 68,000 (2008)
homepage = [http://www.hm.com/ www.hm.com]
intl = yes

Hennes & Mauritz AB (operating as H&M), is a Swedish clothing company, known for its inexpensive and fashionable clothing offerings for women, men, teenagers and children. H&M has more than 1,600 stores in 34 different countries and has more than 68,000 employees.

History

The company was established in Västerås, 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. Erling's son Stefan became CEO in 1990 and Chairman of the Board in 1998. Today the majority of H&M's clothing is manufactured in China.

H&M worldwide

H&M's first store was opened in Sweden. Then from 1964 onwards, H&M embarked upon a major expansion programme many further stores in Europe, including the UK, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany. In the 1990s, the first stores opened in France, Finland, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands. H&M has continued to expand its business and today H&M has an extensive network throughout much of Europe.

H&M opened its first Canadian store in March 2004. There are currently 37 stores in Canada, in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. H&M opened its first US store in New York on 5th Avenue and 51st Street in March 2000. There are now 8 additional stores in Manhattan alone. As of May 2008, H&M has at least 149 individual stores in the United States.

H&M opened its first Asian store in Dubai in 2006. There are currently several stores throughout the Middle East. [ [http://www.hm.com/ca/homeless/middleeast__openingmiddleeast.nhtml H&M ] ] H&M expanded into East Asia in March 2007, with its first store opening in in Central Hong Kong on March 10, 2007. Kylie Minogue opened the first store in East Asia, where she also exclusively launched her range of swimwear, "H&M loves Kylie". First store was opened in mainland China in 2007. First Japanese store was opened in Ginza on September 13, 2008, and planning for two more stores by the end of 2008. [ [http://news.ameba.jp/weblog/2008/09/17768.html] ]

Although there are no H&M stores in Australia, in April 2007, pop superstar Kylie Minogue teamed up with H&M to introduce a swimwear line called, “H&M loves Kylie”, featuring a theme of Australia. “When we think of Australia and glamour, we think Kylie, who is such a stylish person,” H&M design head Margareta van den Bosch said in a statement.

Collaborations

In November 2004, selected H&M stores offered an exclusive collection by fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. The press reported large crowds and that the initial inventories in the larger cities were sold out within an hour [ [http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=678&a=342607&previousRenderType=8 Designplagg tog slut på en timme ] ] , although the clothes were still available in less fashion-sensitive areas until the company redistributed them to meet with demand [ [http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=678&a=344609&previousRenderType=6 H&M för snobbigt för Lagerfeld ] ] . In November 2005, the chain launched a collection by Stella McCartney and, in November 2006, by avant-garde Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf.H&M launched another collaboration with Madonna in March 2007, designed by the popstar [ [http://www.hm.com/it/press/fashionpressrelease.ahtml?pressreleaseid=786&nodeid=316 H&M - Press ] ] . In June 2007 the company worked with game developers Maxis to create a stuff pack for the latter's The Sims 2 computer game, H&M Fashion Stuff [cite web |url=http://thesims2.ea.com/about/sp5_index.php |title=The Sims(tm) 2 H&M Fashion Stuff |accessdate=2007-12-25] In November 2007, the chain launched a collection by Italian designer Roberto Cavalli. It was reported that the clothing sold out very quickly. Also in 2007, another design with Kylie Minogue was launched in Shanghai, China [http://www.enjoyfashion.com/celebrities/celebrity-fashion/kylie-minogue-for-hm-20070305-75.html Australian singer Kylie Minogue chosen for H&M beachwear campaign - EnjoyFashion ] ] .

Brand

H&M has the 66th most recognized brand in the world, worth $11 billion. [ [http://www.vb.com/short.htm Case Studies on Companies that own a Two Letter Domain] ]

The full company name Hennes & Mauritz was rebranded to H&M to simplify worldwide perception of the brand.

The value of the brand is reinforced by ownership of two letter domain "hm.com". The domain was registered in the early 1990, but data on the first registration is lost. In 1998 Hennes & Mauritz was able to buy the domain hm.com from a company called A1in a non-published domain transaction. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/19961105223330/http://hm.com/ Historic Archive of the very first HM.com Website] ] Today Hennes & Mauritz General is one of the few corporations worldwide to own a two letter domain name. [ [http://www.vb.com/short.htm List of Large Companies that own a Two Letter Domain] ] . However the brand is not reflected by the "HMB" Stockholm Stock Exchange ticker symbol.

COS

COS ("Collection of Style") is a fashion concept started by H&M with a fashion show at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the opening of a signature COS store on Regent Street on 16 March 2007. COS begins where H&M ends: featuring mainly subtle, monochrome colors, the minimalist, clean-cut pieces in the collections for men and women are created with a focus on "quality in terms of the fabrics, fit and finish" [ [http://www.hm.com/gb/press/pressreleases/__prfashion.nhtml?pressreleaseid=388 H&M: COS - Collection of Style] ] , merging "high fashion attributes [...] with ground level pricing" [ [http://www.hm.com/gb/press/pressreleases/__prfashion.nhtml?pressreleaseid=388 H&M: COS - Collection of Style] ] , and thus "providing the look of Jil Sander for less" [ [http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article3855714.ece Chain reaction: H&M] , The Times, May 2, 2008] . The collections range from fundamental basics to sophisticated cocktail dresses and sleek mens' suits. COS's target group is the "mid-market consumer" [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6451485.stm BBC News: H&M heads back to basics] ] who either cannot be reached with H&M products or wants to trade up. COS merchandise is designed by Rebekka Bay (women's) and Michael Kristensen (mens), and is manufactured in Europe (80%) and Asia (20%) [ [http://www.hm.com/us/abouthm/anewchainofstorescos__factscos.nhtml H&M: A new chain of stores - COS] ] . Prices range above those for comparable items in the H&M mainline stores, but supposedly below comparable ready-to-wear collection clothing. A men's dress shirt retails at about € 50,00, a suit at or below € 350,00.As of spring 2008, signature COS stores - the exclusive points of sale for COS collection items - can be found in Antwerp, Brussels, Copenhagen, Den Haag, Berlin (2x), Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and London. There are no COS outlets outside Europe, yet. COS stores are designed by interior architect William Russell, a British Pentagram partner.

ee also

*List of Swedish companies
*European Retail Round Table

References

* [http://fashionrunway.sims.yahoo.com H&M Sims Fashion Runway Site]

External links

* [http://www.hm.com/ Hennes & Mauritz]
* [http://www.fashionunited.co.uk/News/Columns/Hennes_en_Mauritz_news_and_facts_history_H%26M_200809286208/ Hennes en Mauritz news and facts] FashionUnited
* [http://www.cosstores.com COS by H&M]
* [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/100/100801.html Yahoo! - H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB Company Profile]
*myspace|hmusa|Hennes & Mauritz (USA)