Where are the customers? H&M plans to close 170 stores
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H&M plans to shut 170 stores this year, even as it adds a new format called Afound to sell marked-down merchandise.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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STOCKHOLM (Bloomberg) - H&M is embarking on one of its biggest store-closure programmes as chief executive Karl-Johan Persson steps up efforts to beef up the ailing Swedish clothing chain.
It plans to shut 170 stores this year, even as it adds a new format called Afound to sell marked-down merchandise.
The world's No. 2 fashion chain by sales has recently hit a number of roadblocks, reporting the biggest drop in quarterly sales on record. As online shopping has soared, fewer people are visiting H&M's vast network of physical stores.
It has struggled to cut inventory, which ended the year higher than planned.
But it also plans to invest more in formats other than the flagship H&M, such as COS, Monki and Afound.
Some investors have sold shares amid fears the company is too slow in responding to the industry's digital shift.
