The Swedish retail industry has experienced a sharp decline in turnover due to the impact of the new crown epidemic. Several clothing stores and groups across the country have filed for bankruptcy or reorganization. There are fashion companies with more than 5,000 stores around the world. H&M cannot remain immune.
According to H&M’s latest financial report, sales from March 1 to May 6, 2020 dropped significantly by 57% compared with the same period in 2019. 60% are still closed, and some stores have slowly resumed operations around the end of April, including 360 of the 460 stores in Germany that have begun operating for short periods of time in response to demand. H&M has not closed its operations in Sweden, but its business hours are flexibly shortened in response to epidemic prevention measures and business conditions in various regions.
CEO Helena Helmersson said that it is difficult to accurately predict sales in the next few months at this stage, because different market conditions have different problems, and they have dealt with many problems. , so we must remain flexible and take actions based on the development of each market, including the recent announcement that about 350 Swedish employees will be laid off. This layoff is not directly related to the epidemic and is part of the company’s restructuring and digitalization plan. However, the contracts of about 100 employees at the Stockholm head office will not be extended, and another 800 dispatch consultants will also end their work. This part is more related to the epidemic.
