Which H&M Stores Are Available?

H&M operates 4,369 stores worldwide across 77 markets through multiple brand formats, including the flagship H&M brand, COS, Weekday, & Other Stories, Arket, and Monki. The company also maintains online shopping in 60 markets, making fashion accessible through both physical locations and digital channels.

The H&M Group Store Portfolio

H&M Group’s retail presence spans six distinct brand concepts, each serving different customer segments and style preferences. The main H&M brand accounts for 3,872 stores, representing roughly 89% of the group’s physical footprint. This concentration reflects the company’s strategy of maintaining the flagship brand as its primary growth vehicle while using specialty brands to capture niche markets.

The distribution reveals interesting patterns. The United States leads with 508 H&M stores, making it the largest market by store count. Germany follows as the second-largest market, though it generates higher sales revenue than the US despite fewer locations. This discrepancy highlights how store performance varies dramatically by market maturity and consumer spending patterns.

Recent data from 2024 shows the company opened approximately 100 new stores while closing 160, resulting in a net reduction of 60 locations. This marks a shift from the aggressive expansion phase that peaked in 2020-2021 when the group operated over 5,000 stores. The current strategy prioritizes quality over quantity, focusing on “the right store with the right format in the right place.”

Main H&M Brand Stores

The flagship H&M stores come in multiple formats adapted to local market conditions and real estate opportunities. Traditional H&M stores typically occupy 20,000+ square feet in major shopping centers and high streets, offering the full range of women’s, men’s, and children’s clothing plus accessories and homeware.

In 2024, H&M began testing smaller-format stores of around 8,000 square feet in the UK and other European markets. These compact locations allow the retailer to return to cities where it previously closed larger stores, maintaining market presence with lower overhead costs. The smaller format focuses on curated bestsellers rather than the complete inventory found in flagship locations.

Flagship concept stores represent the premium end of H&M’s physical retail. The “House of H&M” in Shanghai, reopened in 2025, spans 32,300 square feet across six floors and functions as both a retail destination and the company’s Greater China headquarters. Similar flagship investments in major cities like New York, London, Berlin, and Stockholm include the refurbishment of approximately 250 stores with enhanced design elements and customer experience features.

H&M stores serve multiple functions beyond retail. All locations use RFID technology for precise inventory tracking, enabling customers to find specific sizes and items. Many stores offer repair services as part of the company’s sustainability initiatives. Physical locations also function as fulfillment hubs for online orders, supporting click-and-collect services, returns, and local delivery operations.

COS: Contemporary Fashion Stores

COS (Collection of Style) operates 245 stores across 47 markets, positioning itself as H&M Group’s answer to higher-end contemporary fashion. Launched in 2007 with a flagship on London’s Regent Street, COS emphasizes minimalist design inspired by architecture and graphics. The brand focuses on timeless pieces with select color palettes and premium materials, targeting customers who value quality and longevity over fast-changing trends.

Store locations concentrate in major metropolitan areas and upscale shopping districts. COS maintains both physical stores and a robust online presence in 60 markets, using the stores as brand showcases that reinforce its premium positioning. Unlike H&M’s mass-market approach, COS stores feature elevated presentations with carefully curated displays that emphasize craftsmanship and design details.

The brand’s pricing sits considerably above H&M’s, reflecting both higher quality materials and more sophisticated construction. Around 93% of COS materials come from sustainable sources, appealing to environmentally conscious consumers willing to pay more for responsible fashion. The company also operates COS Resell, a platform for buying and selling preloved COS items, extending the lifecycle of its garments.

Weekday and Monki: Youth-Focused Stores

Weekday currently operates stores in 14 countries, targeting young, creative customers with fashion inspired by youth culture and street style. The brand originated in Sweden in 2002 and was acquired by H&M Group in 2008. Weekday stores offer both proprietary designs and curated selections from external brands, creating a multibrand retail experience.

In 2023, H&M announced a significant restructuring that merged Monki into the Weekday operation. Monki had operated 64 concept stores in 15 markets as a standalone brand focused on young women. All physical Monki stores will close during 2025, with select locations converting to Weekday stores. The Monki brand continues online and within Weekday locations, maintaining its distinct identity while reducing operational costs.

This consolidation also includes the revival of Cheap Monday, the denim brand that H&M discontinued in 2019. Cheap Monday returns with a small jeans assortment sold through Weekday channels, leveraging the brand’s legacy reputation for quality denim at accessible prices. The combined youth destination aims to serve 18-30 year old consumers seeking trend-forward fashion with authentic street credibility.

The merger reflects broader challenges in operating multiple overlapping brands. By consolidating back-end operations while preserving distinct brand identities on the customer-facing side, H&M seeks to achieve cost efficiencies without losing the specialized appeal that made each brand successful.

Global Store Distribution and Market Strategy

Regional distribution reveals H&M’s strategic priorities and market penetration patterns. Asia, Oceania, and Africa combined host 1,101 stores, representing roughly 25% of the global total. Europe remains the dominant market, accounting for the majority of locations and generating almost three times the sales revenue of North and South America combined.

The United States presents an interesting paradox. With 508 stores, it’s the single largest market by store count, yet it ranks behind Germany and several other markets in sales per store and brand awareness. Only 77% of US consumers recognize the H&M brand, compared to higher rates in core European markets. This suggests untapped potential or potential market saturation, depending on how the company approaches the American consumer.

Germany represents H&M’s most valuable market with over 35 billion Swedish kronor (approximately $3.3 billion) in annual sales. The UK serves as another crucial market, though H&M has closed over 56 UK stores since the pandemic began, including locations in Burton, Hartlepool, and Maidenhead. The company plans to reenter some of these markets with the smaller 8,000 square foot format.

Emerging markets show varied results. H&M announced plans to enter Brazil in 2025 with both physical stores and e-commerce, marking a strategic push into Latin America’s largest economy. In contrast, the company permanently closed more than 170 stores in Russia following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, walking away from what had been its sixth-largest market representing 4% of group sales.

China presents ongoing challenges. H&M operated around 300 stores in Greater China but faced significant backlash following the Xinjiang cotton controversy. Sales declined approximately 40% in 2021, and the company stopped reporting detailed Chinese market data separately. The reopening of the Shanghai flagship as “House of H&M” in 2025 signals continued commitment to the market despite setbacks, focusing on fewer, higher-quality locations in key cities like Beijing and Shenzhen.

Store Operations and Technology Integration

H&M’s physical stores function as sophisticated omnichannel nodes rather than simple retail locations. RFID technology deployed across all stores provides real-time inventory visibility, allowing staff and customers to locate specific items, sizes, and colors instantly. This system integrates with the mobile app’s “Find in Store” feature, enabling customers to check availability before visiting.

The stores support multiple fulfillment models. Buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS) allows customers to collect web orders within hours at convenient locations. Stores process returns for online purchases, reducing the friction that often discourages digital shopping. Some locations serve as micro-fulfillment centers for local delivery, enabling same-day or next-day service in dense urban markets.

Sustainability features prominently in store operations. The garment collecting initiative, active in H&M stores worldwide since 2013, has collected thousands of tons of textiles for reuse and recycling. Select stores offer repair services, extending garment lifespans and supporting the company’s circular fashion goals. These services differentiate physical stores from pure e-commerce competitors who struggle to provide similar sustainability touchpoints.

The 2024 refurbishment program targeting 250 stores focuses on elevating the in-store experience through improved lighting, modern fixtures, and enhanced fitting rooms. Former CEO Helena Helmersson emphasized that physical locations provide opportunities to “try on clothes and be inspired” that digital channels cannot fully replicate, despite the company’s significant e-commerce investments.

E-Commerce and Online Presence

H&M maintains online shopping capabilities in 60 markets, extending its reach beyond the 77 markets with physical stores. COS, Monki, Weekday, & Other Stories, and Arket all offer global selling services that enable customers in approximately 70 additional markets to shop online, though exact numbers vary by brand.

The online experience integrates closely with physical retail. Visual Search functionality in the H&M app allows customers to upload images or screenshots to find similar styles. Items unavailable online often appear in store inventories, with the app guiding customers to specific locations where products are in stock. This inventory transparency helps maximize sales by directing customers to available products regardless of channel.

Digital sales grew substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic when H&M closed 250 stores globally in 2020-2021. The company accelerated its e-commerce investments, though it maintains that physical stores remain “incredibly important” to the overall strategy. The current approach seeks balance, using online channels to extend geographic reach while preserving physical stores as brand ambassadors and experiential destinations.

Recent Changes and Future Direction

Store count peaked at approximately 5,000 locations in 2020-2021 before H&M shifted to a rationalization strategy. The company closed 197 stores in 2023 while opening only 101, a pattern that continued into 2024 with planned closures of around 160 stores against 100 openings. This 60-store net reduction represents a deliberate rebalancing rather than retreat.

Most new openings concentrate in growth markets with expanding middle-class populations and underpenetrated fashion retail. Conversely, closures predominantly affect established European and North American markets where online shopping has matured and marginal stores no longer justify their cost structures. This geographic reallocation redirects capital to markets with higher growth potential.

Leadership changes accompanied the strategic pivot. Helena Helmersson unexpectedly stepped down as CEO in January 2024 after four years leading the company through the pandemic and its aftermath. Daniel Ervér, former H&M brand chief, replaced her and is overseeing the current store optimization program while maintaining the focus on profitability over expansion.

The company’s stated goal is achieving “the right store with the right format in the right place.” This means larger flagship stores in premium locations, smaller format stores in secondary markets, and concept stores tailored to local preferences. The flexibility to deploy multiple formats allows H&M to maintain market presence across diverse retail environments from dense urban centers to suburban outlet malls.

Investment priorities for 2024 and beyond emphasize upgrading existing stores rather than adding new locations. The 250-store refurbishment program includes major markets like New York, London, Berlin, and Stockholm, targeting stores in prime locations that anchor H&M’s market presence. These upgrades cost significantly less than new openings while generating substantial returns through improved customer experience and higher conversion rates.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many H&M stores are currently operating?

H&M Group operates 4,369 stores worldwide as of 2023 across all its brands. The flagship H&M brand alone accounts for 3,872 stores in 77 markets. This represents a decrease from the peak of over 5,000 stores in 2020-2021 as the company optimizes its store portfolio by closing underperforming locations and opening new stores in growth markets.

Which countries have the most H&M stores?

The United States leads with 508 H&M stores, making it the largest market by store count. Germany ranks second, followed by the United Kingdom in third place with more than 200 stores. The home market of Sweden has 136 stores. These four countries together account for a significant portion of H&M’s global store network.

What are the different H&M store brands?

H&M Group operates six main brand concepts: H&M (the flagship mass-market brand), COS (contemporary minimalist fashion), Weekday (youth-focused street style), & Other Stories (feminine fashion with artistic influences), Arket (lifestyle essentials and home goods), and the recently merged Monki (young women’s fashion). Additionally, H&M Home operates as a shop-in-shop concept within H&M stores, and Singular Society functions as a membership-based brand.

Is H&M opening or closing more stores?

H&M is currently closing more stores than it’s opening, but at a slower pace than in previous years. In 2024, the company planned to open approximately 100 new stores while closing around 160, resulting in a net reduction of 60 stores. This compares to 2023 when 197 stores closed against 101 openings. The focus has shifted from expansion to optimization, with investments directed toward refurbishing existing stores in prime locations.

H&M’s store network reflects a company in transition, moving from aggressive geographic expansion to strategic optimization and format experimentation. The 4,369 stores across 77 markets provide substantial physical presence, but the future depends on how effectively the company integrates these locations with digital channels while adapting formats to local market conditions. With store count stabilizing and investment shifting to quality improvements, H&M’s retail strategy emphasizes profitability and customer experience over the pure store count growth that defined previous decades.

Data Sources:

Statista – H&M Group store numbers worldwide by country 2024 (statista.com)
Retail Dive – H&M Group plans to invest more in physical stores (retaildive.com)
H&M Group – Markets and expansion official page (hmgroup.com)
Visual Merchandising and Store Design – H&M investment plans (vmsd.com)