No plans to downsize India stores, says Swedish retailer H&M

Swedish clothing retailer Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) denies the report of a leading daily that it is planning to downsize its stores.
According to a report in the newspaper, “H&M plans to reduce several of its upcoming store sizes in India by nearly half, due to expensive real estate and space crunch in leading malls.”
Head of Communications, H&M India, Dhatri Bhatt exclusively told Indiaretailing: “H&M currently operates six stores in the country of the size of 25,000 – 40,000 sq.ft. The two stores that H&M will be opening in Mumbai this fall at High Street Phoenix and Phoenix Marketcity are spread over 30,000 and 37,000 sq.ft. respectively will be full concept H&M stores, offering latest trends, timeless classics and fashion inspiration for ladies, men, teenagers and children.”
She further added, “The availability of attractive business locations is the major deciding factor in our rate of expansion. The best business location is so important that we would rather hold off from opening a new store and wait until the right location becomes available.”
The H&M store in Noida is spread over 40,000 sq. ft. and Mohali is spread over 26,000 sq. ft. space, whereas the size of the store varies globally.
“Globally we open stores that varies depending on if it is a flagship store or a concept store along with special assortment and target group. This is nothing dramatic in itself and has always been part of our expansion,” Dhatri Bhatt concluded.
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