In 2017, H&M will also open in Colombia, Iceland, Kazakhstan and Georgia. CEO Karl-Johan Persson confirmed the openings while announcing a 7 per cent increase in global sales for its financial year on November 30.
Last year, H&M opened online stores in 11 markets, along with 427 new brick-and-mortar stores worldwide.
“This means that H&M is now present in 64 markets of which 35 offer eCommerce. We welcomed more than 13,000 new colleagues which means there are now more than 161,000 colleagues in the group,” he said.
The H&M Asia online stores will also open in Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Taiwan and Malaysia, according to Inside Retail Asia. A sixth will open in Turkey.
In addition, this year the company – which also operates the Cos, Monki, Weekday and Cheap Monday retail brands – will also reveal one or two more brands.
“In 2017 we are looking forward to delivering strong collections and customer experiences and launching one or two new brands. This, combined with ongoing improvements and investments in the omni channel offering, the supply chain and advanced analytics make us positive towards our opportunities in reaching our newly rephrased growth target, both in 2017 and going forward,” Persson said.
Most new stores will carry the H&M banner, but 70 to 80 will be for other brands, including H&M Home.