H&M to launch & Other Stories and Weekday in Russia

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 31, 2020

H&M has issued a string of interesting news releases in recent weeks and the latest news is that it’s taking two of its key brands into the Russian market for the first time. 

The fashion retail giant said & Other Stories will open its first store there this autumn, the first time Russian consumers have had any access to the brand.

The label, which offers ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, jewellery and beauty, will open a physical store at the Metropolis shopping centre in Moscow.

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The brand was launched in 2013 with a London debut but has been rolled out cautiously since then. Yet seven years later it has reached fairly wide distribution and now has stores in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, the UK and US.

Meanwhile, news agency Interfax also reported that H&M would be opening its youth-focused Weekday chain in Russia this year, although we don’t yet know exactly where or when. 

The debut of the two brands follows on from the group's launch of Monki and Cos in the country to join the existing H&M brand there. 

Russia is the group’s 10th largest market as far as sales volumes are concerned (Germany, the US and UK are the top three markets on this measure) and it has 147 stores there in total. 

Its Russian revenues rose 24% in Swedish Krona in Q4, or 12% in rubles, and the company said this week that the country will be a key focus for new stores this year.