H&M is indeed coming to the Philippines!

….. but we just don’t know when :)

Sources said H&M (short for Hennes & Mauritz) has applied with the Board of Investments, an agency under the Department of Trade and Industry.

But contrary to speculation, the Swedish clothing retailer is not teaming up with SM Retail Inc. to avoid direct competition with other brands the SM group has already franchised – Forever 21 and Uniqlo.

More likely, H&M will enter the Philippines as a wholly-owned foreign retailer firm where investment rules state that you can qualify if you have paid-up capital of $7.5 million or more, under Category C.

H&M trails Zara among the world’s biggest fashion retailers with appoximately 3,000 stores in 53 markets. In Asia, the Swedish label already has presence in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.

What to love about H&M? Fashion and quality at the best (wallet-friendly) prices, of course. They have really good office jackets which you can buy at half the price or less of what you otherwise pay for in Mango, Zara and other high street brands.

Until a few months ago, I loved browsing around H&M’s flagship store in Central (HK) before it closed due to high rent.

H&M

Filipinos really have to go abroad to shop H&M or just buy from online retailers at higher prices.

Aside from SM Retail, fashion retail in the country is dominated by Stores Specialists Inc. (SSI) of the Rustan’s group which holds the franchise to 75 or so top foreign brands among them Zara, Gap, Banana Republic, Burberry, Cartier, Marks & Spencer and others.

Global website: www.hm.com