Retailer H&M With 21 IL Locations To Close 250 Stores

ILLINOIS — H&M, a low-cost fashion retailer based in Sweden with a heavy mall presence in Illinois, said it plans to close up to 250 stores next year and cited diminished foot traffic amid the coronavirus pandemic as a primary cause.

The announcement by parent company H&M Group came in an earnings summary released Thursday.

In September alone, sales decreased by 5 percent. H&M currently has 166 stores, or about 3 percent of its total number of stores, still closed. At the peak of the pandemic, about 80 percent of H&M's 5,000 stores worldwide were closed.

A large number of stores that are open still have local restrictions and limited opening hours, officials said. For example, most malls in Connecticut do not open until 11 a.m. More customers are shopping online, the report notes.

"The rapid changes in customer behavior have been accelerated by Covid-19," according to the earnings report. "The H&M group is therefore now stepping up the pace of its transformation work further, with digital investments, optimization of the store portfolio and increasingly integrated channels."

H&M officials said about a quarter of its stores have a contractual right to renegotiate or exit their leases each year and put the potential closure total at 250 stores.

Specific closures were not disclosed in the earnings report.

H&H's Illinois stores include:

• Rockford
• Chicago Ridge
• Bloomington
• Aurora
• Geneva
• Gurnee
• Vernon Hills
• Joliet
• Champaign
• North Riverside
• Northbrook
• Oak Brook (2 locations)
• Orland Park
• West Dundee
• Fairview Heights
• Bolingbrook
• Peoria
• Springfield
• Schaumburg
• Lombard

"More and more customers started shopping online during the pandemic, and they are making it clear that they value a convenient and inspiring experience in which stores and online interact and strengthen each other," H&M CEO Helena Helmersson said.

Third quarter-sales fell by 16 percent to $5.7 million.

"Although the challenges are far from over, we believe that the worst is behind us and we are well placed to come out of the crisis stronger," Helmersson said.

By Chris Dehnel, Patch Staff