Singapore first in H&M's Southeast Asia entry strategy

The 3,000-square meter (33,000 square foot) store will be located in the Orchard Building on the famed Orchard Road that has recently seen a proliferation of new youth-oriented malls.

H&M chief executive officer Karl-Johan Persson said the company is looking forward to opening its first store in Southeast Asia.

"There is great potential for expansion in this highly populated and fashion conscious region, and Orchard Road in Singapore is the perfect first step for this," he said.

H&M's new store, spanning three-storeys, will be almost twice the size of Uniqlo's flagship outlet and Forever 21's biggest shop.

A spokesman says the Singapore entity will be 100 per cent wholly-owned and operated by H&M, a strategy which the company has adopted in the 38 markets it currently operates in.

Singapore will be used as a test-bed before the company launches elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

The company says its advertising campaigns are produced centrally in Sweden by H&M’s marketing department. “The advertisements that we produce are largely identical in all of our markets, but the media strategy is adapted to local requirements and conditions."

H&M launched in Asia around three years ago, it currently has 31 stores in China, six in Hong Kong, nine in Japan and one in South Korea.