H&M’s New Berlin Store Signals Company’s Retail Evolution

BERLIN — The new H&M store in Berlin, opening this Friday, will be the first of its kind worldwide. It will be one of the brand’s smaller stores and, if successful, it may also signal a change in the way the Swedish fashion giant sells clothes. This Berlin-based experiment is all part of H&M’s broader overhaul, as the company invests in high-tech logistics, spruces up stores and revamps customer services. “What we wanted to explore was, how can a big brand like H&M go local?” said Anna Bergare, business developer at H&M Laboratory, the Group’s innovation hub, who has been involved in the research behind the new store, named H&M Mitte Garden. “How do we become more tailored and more niche? We are starting to see how people are living differently, spending more money on things like eating out and other experiences. Thanks to technology, people are also often aware of what they want to buy before they even walk in a store.” The result is what Bergare described as a “hyperlocal store.” The company did not wish to reveal the cost of outfitting the new outpost but with its pale green walls, high vaulted ceilings, wood and white shelving, the fresh

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