The Swedish fashion brand has shut its doors on a major flagship store in Shanghai after 10 years of operation.
The store is located on the city’s prime shopping street Nanjing West Road, the H&M Shanghai flagship was considered a strategic location for the brand due to the high footfall in the area. Local media outlets were informed that the store closure was the result of the lease coming to an end and that the company is looking at alternative locations as it continues its plan to grow in the country.
This flagship joins a list of H&M’s store closures in China, with the majority of these resulting from the boycotting of landlords over the Xinjiang controversy. Their products are also currently not being sold at China’s largest e-commerce platforms, Tmall and JD.
H&M Country Manager Thomas Coellner said in a statement that the decision was made following a global review of sustainable store operations. “At H&M, we continuously review our store portfolio and assess all rent negotiations in order to future-proof the business. Unfortunately, we have been unable to come to an agreement with Scentre Group and will therefore close our H&M Westfield Bondi Junction store in July 2021.”
