H&M to enter home textiles category

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 1/25/2007 11:41:00 AM

Stockholm, Sweden – Apparel retailer H&M (Hennes & Mauritz) today said it will begin selling home textiles this fall online and in catalogs throughout The Netherlands and Nordic countries, as well as online in Germany and Austria.

H&M Home will include bed, bath, and window coverings, including comforters, sheets, towels and accessories, spokeswoman Jenni Tatter told Home Textiles Today in a telephone interview.

“There are no concrete plans for stores at the moment,” Tatter said, adding it was also too soon to determine if the effort will find its way to the United States but indicating that the company expects “substantial expansion” following the debut. “We see a big demand for [home textiles] among our customers lately,” Tatter said. “There is a growing interest.”

H&M, which operates 1,345 stores in 45 countries, also announced the creation of a new high-end apparel chain, Collections of Style, or COS , to debut in London this spring, with rollout planned to selected markets in the United States and Europe .

For the most recent fiscal year, ending Nov. 30, H&M’s profits increased 17% to kr10.8 billion (kronor) or $1.55 billion, on sales of kr68.4 billion or $9.8 billion, a 12% gain over the prior year.