H&M to Close 240 Stores

H&M (Stockholm, Sweden) will shutter 240 stores this year in the face of a sales slowdown, Yahoo reports.

The move is connected to the fast-fashion brand’s decision to halt operations in Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine, the article explains. Russia is H&M’s sixth-biggest market and represents 4% of sales. The retailer is also staging a boycott in China over human-rights abuses related to cotton production in the Xinjiang region.

H&M, however, is planning to open 95 new doors in the year ahead, shrinking the net loss to about 145 stores, according to the outlet. The retailer says the store openings are primarily slated for growth territories, including six new markets: Cambodia, Ecuador, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Costa Rica and Guatemala.

Read more at Yahoo.