According to a financial update by H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (Stockholm), the Swedish retailing empire added 374 new stores around the world in the past year, bringing its tally to almost 3200 – more than one new H&M opened each day.
This year, H&M plans to open its first stores in Australia, India and the Philippines.
A story by Bloomberg Businessweek said H&M’s online initiatives have been slower than their physical growth. The company finally opened a U.S. web store in August and just this week it started taking online orders in France, with plans to expand its e-commerce footprint to three more unnamed countries this year.