woo... go south edmonton common go
H & M adds second store
Chain expands despite recession
By Bill Mah, The Edmonton JournalApril 4, 2009 8:13 AMBe the first to post a comment
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The company logo for Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) hangs from a store in Regent Street, London, U.K, on Wednesday, March 25, 2009. Hennes & Mauritz AB, Europeís second-largest clothing retailer, may say first-quarter profit was little changed, according to an analyst survey.
The company logo for Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) hangs from a store in Regent Street, London, U.K, on Wednesday, March 25, 2009. Hennes & Mauritz AB, Europeís second-largest clothing retailer, may say first-quarter profit was little changed, according to an analyst survey.
Photograph by: Chris Ratcliffe, Bloomberg News
Move over, Ikea. Another Swedish import is opening at South Edmonton Common.
H & M is opening a second city store at the sprawling retail power centre this month, the fashion retailer says.
The outlet will offer 15,000 square feet of retail space, slightly smaller than its West Edmonton Mall location, said spokeswoman Emily Scarlett Friday.
"In terms of what the stores will offer, they'll both be quite similar," she said. The company sells clothing for men, women and children, and cosmetics.
The store, which opens April 23, will employ 45 permanent staff.
The new Edmonton store will be one of three new locations opening in Alberta this year. The others are in Red Deer's Bower Place and Cross Iron Mills near Balzac.
"For us, it's really about location so when the opportunity came up to have a great location like South Edmonton Common and we were really excited to jump on board and offer a second store," Scarlett said.
H & M currently has 43 stores in Canada, mostly in Canada, but plans to aggressively expand this year by launching 12 new stores in the Maritimes, British Columbia and Alberta.
H & M (Hennes & Mauritz) was established in Sweden in 1947. Its business concept offers "fashion and quality at the best price."
"In times of economic downturn for us, historically, we've actually done quite well. People still want to be able to buy great clothing, but do it at an affordable price."
Peter Pilarski, a director at the Retail Council of Canada's Alberta office, said it's difficult to pinpoint what will happen to consumer spending in the province. It soared during the boom but has fallen off.
Albertan shoppers loosened their wallets in January enough to nudge retail spending in the province up by 1.6 per cent over December.
"The bump in sales from December to January shows the resilience of the Alberta consumer," Pilarski said.
"Employment in Alberta remains relatively strong and this is reflected in relatively stable sales."
However, compared with January 2008, when Albertans spent nearly $5.2 billion, retail purchasing was down by 7.3 per cent in January 2009. "Two thousand and nine will continue to be a challenging year," Pilarski said.
"Pressures from the U.S. will have an impact on sales in Canada, but it's exceedingly difficult to predict what will happen since we are in such an unprecedented time."
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