H&M to open first India store Oct 2, marks entry into 60th market

A second store will also open by year-end in Delhi; group to open up to 30 stores in India next year

Swedish fashion chain Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) on Wednesday announced its first India flagship store will open at a popular mall in New Delhi on October 2. This will be the 60th market for the group. By the end of the year, it will open another store in the capital.

H&M, one of the largest foreign investors in single-brand retail, filed its proposal to enter India in 2013 and had to push back its plan due to many factors, including a slowing market back home.  

The first store of H&M, a rival to another European fashion brand Zara, will be spread across about 25,000 sq ft in two floors. While the first outlet will open at Select Citywalk mall in Saket, another is being planned at Ambience Mall in Vasant Kunj by the end of 2015.

The group is expected to open as many as 30 stores in India next year. With $22 billion in global sales, the firm had at the time of application proposed to invest Rs 750 crore in India. It 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 $114 million in sales for the year ended March.

“This is the best time to be in India, it is H&M’s 60th and highly anticipated market with so much potential in retail. We hope to exceed customer expectations with our varied range of inspiring fashion that lets them explore their personal style,” said Janne Einola, country manager, Hennes & Mauritz Retail India.

According to H&M’s latest quarterly report, the company plans to open as many as 400 stores across the world this year. Besides India, the group’s expansion thrust is on the US and China. In fact, in North America, both H&M and Inditex’s Zara are giving stiff competition to the US-based Gap, Inc, which recently announced it would shut 175 stores in the US.