Swedish fashion retailer moves into B.C.
Trendy Swedish fashion retailer H&M will open its first B.C. store in Coquitlam Centre this fall --
the first of up to 10 stores it expects to operate throughout Greater Vancouver.
The global chain that sells runway-inspired apparel at affordable prices will operate an 18,000-square-foot store in the mall and is searching for more locations in the region, H&M Canada country manager Lucy van der Wal said in an interview.
"We'd like to have up to eight or 10 stores around Vancouver but it depends on when landlords can give us the locations," she said.
H&M -- with more than 1,300 stores in 24 countries posting combined sales of $10.4 billion last year -- entered the Canadian market in 2004 and currently operates 19 stores in Ontario and seven in Quebec. It plans to open two new Alberta stores this spring.
H&M sells clothing and accessories for women, men, teens and children at affordable prices.
Its current Canadian catalogue shows women's shoes priced from $35, a $40 purse, $8 sunglasses and dresses priced from $40 to $50. Men's watches range from $30 to $60, a leather tie sells for $15 and a dress shirt costs $25.
One of the chain's hottest global sellers is a five-pack of men's black socks that costs about $7, van der Wal said.
H&M buys a major portion of its clothes from Asian manufacturers and van der Wal said the 60-year-old company has a lot of experience in cutting costs.
"It's the volume," she said. "We buy a lot of merchandise and have very few middlemen."
H&M also drives sales by collaborating with celebrity designers like Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Viktor & Rolf. Pop icon Madonna will bring a fashion line to H&M stores this spring -- the "M by Madonna" collection.
Madonna designed a track suit for H&M last year and she was featured in company advertising. Her crew wore H&M-designed clothes backstage during her 2006 Confessions tour.
Van der Wal said H&M appeals to a wide range of consumers but the biggest buying group consists of "high-fashion, trendy" women between the ages of 18 and 35. She predicts the store will do very well in the Vancouver market,
"We have experience all over the world and fashion is global," she said. "We see a similarity in Vancouver with other big European cities so I think we'll do very, very well there.
"The fashion level in Vancouver is quite high."
Vancouver retail consultant Phil Boname said many Canadian shoppers are price conscious now, regardless of their personal incomes, so H&M stores should do well in the right markets.
Thomas Consultants Inc. president Ian Thomas said H&M has clearly emerged as one of the "darling" new retail concepts in the world.
"They're not a Luis Vuitton or Burberry type of [ultra high-end] brand," he said. "But they're a brand that allows people to be at the leading edge of fashion at affordable prices.
"I can't think of any locations they've gone to where they haven't been an unprecedented success. I don't see why B.C. would be any different."
Thomas said the average H&M store -- with 15,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet of selling space -- is significantly larger than most fashion stores so they offer a wider, more diverse assortment of merchandise.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/n...ac4e17&k=18860
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