H&M to Debut New Concept

Stockholm, Sweden-based H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB, an international brand that offers fashion-forward clothing at low prices, announced plans to expand into the home textile market and to also open a new, more expensive apparel chain, according to Dnrnews.com. Strong holiday sales propelled H&M's full-year profit ahead by a better-than-expected 17 percent, and the fast-fashion chain said it would push into the home textile market and start opening stores for its new apparel chain--Collection of Style, or COS--this March. The first store will open in March on London's Regent Street, carrying both men's and women's collections. H&M said some 10 stores are scheduled to open during the year in the United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium. H&M said it would launch H&M Home Textiles, starting with Internet and catalog sales this fall. H&M said profit after financial items hit $1.94 billion last year. Sales in the fourth quarter rose 8 percent to $2.79 billion, from $2.58 billion, driven by a 16 percent increase in December revenues.