Low cost clothing is also suffering from the crisis. On the one hand, the demand that decreases due to the slowdown in the world economy, on the other a winter that does not arrive, and the high temperatures do not encourage you to buy warm clothes. In the fourth quarter of 2011 the Swedish group Hennes & Mauritz, the second largest apparel retailer in the world, reported a 6% increase in sales compared to the same period last year.
However, if we only consider shops or e-shops that have been in operation for more than one financial year, sales recorded a decrease of 3%. Over 250 new stores have been opened in the last year: H&M recorded 2,472 as of November 30, in over 43 different countries. Among the recent openings, the favorite areas are the countries of the Middle East, above all Lebanon, and Asia.
Consumers therefore remain far from the shops, overwhelmed by the crisis and by the too hot temperatures. The revenues of H&M, which has just launched a collection designed by Donatella Versace, amount to 30,921 billion SEK (33,334 billion euros), excluding VAT, up on the 29,7 billion in the same period last year, but less than analysts' expectations.
