H&M Philippines opens in SM Mall of Asia

An employee arranges a clothes rail displaying garments for sale inside a Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) fashion store in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013. "The retail sales environment in Europe, especially in Spain, has become less challenging in the last few weeks, while the weather overall has also been more stable," Anne Critchlow, a London-based analyst at Societe Generale, said. Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg

H&M Philippines opens its first SM Mall of Asia branch today, with plans to open two more stores in Metro Manila before the end of the year.

The other outlets for the Swedish fast-fashion giant will be at Greenbelt 4 in Makati City, and Robinsons Galleria in Ortigas, taking the company’s total to 29 stores nationwide.

“We have more than 700 colleagues working in the stores, distribution center and support office,” says H&M Philippines communications chief Dan Mejia.

H&M Philippines last year generated about PHP5.38 billion (US$107 million) in sales from 21 stores – an increase of more than 50 per cent over the PHP3.45 billion from 15 stores in 2015.

Mejia says the retailer will also launch an online shop this year.

At the end of last year, H&M had 4351 stores in 64 markets.