H & M goes to India

Hennes & Mauritz, or just H & M, plan to spend roughly $130 million on opening up an initial 50 stores in India.  The Swedish mass retailer which ranks #2 in world's biggest fashion retailer, is trying to close the gap between its competitor, Zara.

Zara currently has over 6,000 stores in 86 countries with H & M much behind, with 2,800 stores in 49 countries.  H & M is planning on opening up many more stores across the globe, but they feel like the Asian market is their next big consumer group.  Fredrik Olsson, head of expansion for the Swedish store, states “It is a very interesting market with a huge population and a growing middle class."

BOF