// H&M to close 240 stores across the globe as it faces a sales slowdown
// The closures will “mainly be in established markets”
H&M will shutter 240 stores across the world following a slowdown in sales.
The fashion retailer will open some 95 new stores and shut around 240 stores this year, with a net decrease of 145 spaces.
Closures will “mainly be in established markets”, with openings in “growth markets”.
READ MORE: H&M sales rise as Russia clouds outlook
Some 185 stores in Russia were shut after the country invaded Ukraine, as well as online sales to Russia.
The retailer said Russia was its sixth largest market, representing 4% of sales.
Sales rose 6% in local currencies in March compared with 23% growth in the three months through February, but these were down 11% from two years earlier, before the pandemic hit.
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