Swedish Radio reported on December 27 that sports chain Intersport is conducting a discount clearance event in Scandinavian shopping malls because the store will close in early 2022. Last year Intersport closed 12 stores, six of which were in Stockholm. In recent years, the development trend of e-commerce has accelerated. E-commerce now accounts for 18% of total sports retail sales, according to consulting firm HUI. Scrett is also closing its Gavle Center store. According to industry magazine Dagens Handel, the store opened less than a year ago. The company’s CEO said the store at that location did not fit the concept of a chain store and that the previous lease did not go according to Scorett’s intentions. At the same time, one year into the epidemic, the footwear trade has been hit hard due to declining sales.
H&M will close its 4,500-square-meter flagship store in Hamngatan, central Stockholm, in April next year. This store has a history of 40 years. It is reported that there will be fewer and fewer physical stores of this brand. In November 2016, H&M had a total of 176 stores across the country, and currently there are only 155. The group stated that it will close approximately 250 stores by 2021. Most of the new stores will be located in emerging markets, while stores in mature markets will gradually close.
At the beginning of 2016, Ahléns had 74 department stores in Sweden. By the end of the year, that number had dropped to 48. Among them, the department store with an area of more than 2,000 square meters in Pallashuset, downtown Boras, will close in February next year. At the same time, the discount department store chain Ahléns Outlet, which opened in 2018, continues to grow and now has 10 department stores. Public relations manager Weronica Nilsson said the company is planning a large-scale expansion and will open more direct-selling department stores in the future.
The latest store survey by consulting firm HUI shows that the number of Swedish chain stores dropped by 547 in 2020. This is equivalent to 3% of the total number of chain stores. Increased digitization and e-commerce are driving the growth of online shopping. The apparel industry was severely affected during the epidemic in 2019 and 2020. Many chain stores closed down and closed stores, resulting in a negative growth of 9.4% in apparel trade. According to HUI, a total of 339 clothing industry chain stores were closed in 2020.
