H&M: Healthy and More

Hennes & Mauritz, the Swedish clothing designer that made such a hit with its Rockefeller Center flagship H&M store in New York last year, is reportedly planning to open 20 new stores in the U.S. this year and 55 more over the next two years. That would give H&M 85 stores in the U.S. by the end of 2003.

The purveyor of “cheap chic” currently operates more than 680 stores in 14 countries, and is on a pace to open 100 new stores a year. The company, which already has 10 U.S. stores, plans to keep its U.S. focus on the Northeast. It also has plans to ramp up its expansion in Spain next year.

H&M opened its first women's clothing store in Stockholm in 1947, naming it Hennes (Swedish for “hers”). It later bought the Swedish hunting and men's clothing store Mauritz Widforss.