H&M is closing two stores in Germany. The closures are for economic reasons, a spokesman for the Swedish fashion group confirmed to FashionUnited. The industry magazine Textilwirtschaft had previously reported on the downsizing of the branch network.
The H&M store on Schildergasse 24 to 30 in Cologne and on Georgstrasse 14 in Hanover are affected. The Cologne store is already closing its doors this weekend, and business in Hanover will continue until October 28th. However, H&M is still present in both cities, in Hanover with two branches and in Cologne there are still five.
While the branch on Georgstraße in Hanover is being closed, the location in the Ernst-August-Galerie will be expanded by around 400 square meters. The Swedish brand’s Divided sub-label will also be introduced to the store.
According to a company spokesman, it is part of the daily work process to check whether H&M is offering customers the best offer in the right place. That’s why the company regularly looks for new opportunities to make improvements or adjustments, such as conversions, expansions or relocations.
In 2022, 336 H&M stores were closed worldwide.
“Cost and efficiency program running at top speed”
The currently difficult market conditions do not seem to have left H&M untouched. While 2023 got off to a good start for the group and the first quarter of the year ended with a surprisingly high profit, the annual profit of the Swedish clothing group in 2022 was not even half as high as in the previous year. Last November, the company embarked on a cost and efficiency program that meant cutting 1,500 jobs. Shortly before, the media in Great Britain had reported that every fifth branch there was being “secretly” closed.
In an interim report at the end of March, H&M managing director Helena Helmersson was cautiously optimistic. “Although the world around us remains challenging, we see some areas where developments are going in the right direction,” she said. “The external factors affecting procurement costs continue to improve, work on the cost and efficiency program is moving at top speed, and many of the changes we have made over the past few years are beginning to take hold.”