On March 31, H&M Group stated in a statement that the company’s long-term commitment to the Chinese market “remains firm” and that the company hopes to be a “responsible purchaser, whether in China or elsewhere in the world.”
The full text is as follows:
We are working with our colleagues in China to make every effort to deal with the current situation. Challenge and find a way forward.
China is a very important market for us, and our long-term commitment to China remains firm. Having developed in China for more than thirty years, we have witnessed the remarkable progress of China’s textile industry. As the forefront of innovation and technology, China will clearly continue to play an important role in the further development of the entire industry. We are proud that our suppliers have been able to participate in this development, and we hope to continue to contribute to the advancement of the industry together with our partners and stakeholders in China. We hope to be a responsible purchaser in China and elsewhere, and are currently formulating forward-looking strategies and actively carrying out the next step of material procurement. We want to be part of the solution, working together with all relevant stakeholders, to create a more sustainable fashion industry.
As a global company, we comply with local legal and regulatory frameworks in all markets in which we operate. Our company values are based on trust, respect, integrity and dialogue. We want to focus on our core business and what we do best – bringing fashion and design to customers around the world.
We are committed to regaining the trust and confidence of Chinese consumers, colleagues and business partners. We believe that by working together with our stakeholders and partners, we can make strides in growing the fashion industry, serving our customers, and respecting them.
After H&M’s statement letter was released, Chinese consumers did not buy it. Let’s take a look at the reactions of consumers:
After being boycotted, H&M has closed 6 stores in China!
Recently, a series of questions caused by the Swedish brand H&M’s “boycott of Xinjiang cotton” have occupied hot searches on major websites.
According to incomplete statistics, since the Xinjiang cotton incident last week, 6 physical stores of Swedish fast fashion H&M in cities such as Urumqi, Yinchuan, Changchun and Lianyungang have been closed. Chengdu Joy City has removed H&M’s billboards from the exterior walls and covered the brand’s store logo with A4 paper.
On March 25, reporters visited Jinan H&M stores such as Harmony Plaza and Zhenhua Commercial Building Jinan People’s Shopping Center and found that there were very few customers in the stores. Around 14:50, a one-meter thread was pulled up at the entrance of H&M in Jinan Zhenhua Commercial Building, and one of the rolling shutter doors was halfway down. At about 15:30, the reporter found that on the large screen on the facade of Zhenhua Commercial Building, the previously played H&M promotional video had been No trace. As of 15:56 that day, the store was officially closed.
H&M in Maoming Donghui City Mall has posted a closure notice.
Chengdu Joy City has taken action to directly remove H&M billboards.
According to the H&M Group’s financial report, China is H&M’s fourth largest market. Last year, the group Sales in China were 9.75 billion Swedish kronor, approximately 7.4 billion yuan. As of November 30 last year, H&M had a total of 505 stores in China.
H&M’s global status
According to statistics, at the beginning of 2020 alone, there were 3,441 H&M stores worldwide Stores were forced to temporarily close, and sales fell sharply due to the impact of the epidemic. In March, the H&M production line stopped production, and the turnover for the whole year fell by 18%, and the profit fell by 88.2%.
In order to allow the company to survive, H&M began to implement compulsory layoffs. In 2020, the number of global layoffs exceeded 16,000, accounting for more than 10% of the total number of employees.
In 2021, H&M managers said they will continue to close offline stores and expect to close 250 physical stores in the first quarter. With the impact of the second wave of the global epidemic, about 20% of stores will gradually close down.
On the other hand, H&M China opened 5 new stores in 2020, and its sales reached 7.6 billion yuan. This is undoubtedly a booster for H&M Group Company to “continue its life”. </p
