Retail in Asia

In Shops

H&M may open 30 stores in India by early 2016

Following IKEA announcing the purchase of 13 acres in Hyderabad for its first store in India on 10 July, it’s the turn of another Swedish chain, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), to go for a big rollout in the country. H&M, rival to another European fast fashion brand, Zara, is likely to open as many as 30 stores in India by early next year, sources say.

The Swedish fashion chain, in the middle of major global expansion, is learnt to have already closed about 15 real estate lease deals in India, and is in the process of raising this count. The group, with USD22 billion in global sales and 3,600 outlets across 59 markets, recently announced it would launch its first India store in the national capital. The store, of about 25,000 sq ft, would be located at a popular mall.

At the time of making its application for investing about INR750 crore (INR7.5 billion, USD118.1 million) into the country, H&M had said it planned to open 50 outlets across India through the next few years. Zara, in a joint venture with Tata group’s Trent, has 16 stores across the country; it posted USD114 million in sales for the year ended March this year.