The company was established in Västerås, Sweden, in 1947 by Erling Persson though at the time it only sold women’s clothing and was called Hennes, Swedish for “hers.” In 1968, Persson acquired the premises and inventory of a Stockholm hunting equipment store named Mauritz Widforss. Included in the inventory was a supply of men’s clothing, prompting Persson to expand into menswear. Accordingly, he renamed the store Hennes & Mauritz, later abbreviated to H&M. Erling’s son Stefan became CEO in 1990 and Chairman of the Board in 1998. Today the majority of H&M’s clothing is manufactured in China.

In November 2004, selected H&M stores offered an exclusive collection by fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. The press reported large crowds and that the initial inventories in the larger cities were sold out within an hour^[6], although the clothes were still available in less fashion-sensitive areas until the company redistributed them to meet with demand^[7]. In November 2005, the chain launched a collection by Stella McCartney and, in November 2006, by avant-garde Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf. H&M launched another collaboration with Madonna in March 2007, designed by the popstar^[8]. In June 2007 the company worked with game developers Maxis to create a stuff pack for the latter’s The Sims 2 computer game, H&M Fashion Stuff^[9] In November 2007, the chain launched a collection by Italian designer Roberto Cavalli. It was reported that the clothing sold out very quickly. Also in 2007, another design with Kylie Minogue was launched in Shanghai, China^[5]. In the fall of 2008 the Japanese company Comme des Garçons was selected as guest designer. For spring and summer 2009, the British designer Matthew Willamson has been invited to be the guest designer.

H&M has the 66th most recognized brand in the world, worth $11 billion.

History

ALDO shoes was founded in Canada in 1972 as a footwear concession within Le Chateau. The original group included stores in Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, and Winnipeg. The first freestanding ALDO store was opened in Montreal, in 1978. The brand expanded in the 1980s and 1990s, with stores operating under the name ALDO. The first ALDO store opened in the United States in 1993 in Boston, Massachusetts. The first international store opened in Israel in 1994. The brand expanded in the 2000s into Saudi Arabia in 2001, England in 2002, and Singapore in 2003. Since then, the brand has further expanded on the international market.

The group has started other brands as well. In 1991, the company launched the Transit banner in Canada. Five years later, they started the FeetFirst banner which caters an older client group.

According to their website, Urban Outfitters’ “established ability to understand our customers and connect with them on an emotional level is the reason for our success.” The site goes on to say that “The reason for this success is that our brands… are both compelling and distinct. Each brand chooses a particular customer segment, and once chosen, sets out to create sustainable points of distinction with that segment” and that “The emphasis is on creativity. Our goal is to offer a product assortment and an environment so compelling and distinctive that the customer feels an empathetic connection to the brand and is persuaded to buy.”

They seek to create “a differential shopping experience, which creates an emotional bond with the 18 to 30 year old target customer we serve.” [3]

Awards

In 2007 Urban Outfitters received the National Preservation Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for the Urban Outfitters Corporate Office Campus located on the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.^[2] For the same campus, Urban Outfitters received the 2007 Global Award for Excellence from the Urban Land Institute.^[3] In March of 2008, to introduce its new Terrain brand, the company entered the Philadelphia Flower Show and won the Alfred M. Campbell Award, the Conservation Award, People’s Choice Award and Best in Show.

In 1989, Forever 21 opened its 11th store and first store located in a mall, at the Panorama Mall which is in Panorama City, CA. Forever 21 increased its presence by expanding the average size to 5,000 square feet (460 m²) per store. Since then, Forever 21 has been running specialty stores in major mall locations nationwide. In 1995, the company expanded their chain to Florida and opened a store in Miami’s Mall of the Americas, this location was the first store outside of California.^[3] Adding new stores every six months, Forever 21 had reached a total of 40 stores by 1997.

Creating its own prototype store in Northridge Fashion Center, Forever 21 has employed its proprietary design concepts to all its stores since. By this time Forever 21 also increased its average size to 9,000 square feet (840 m²) per store in prime spots of top tier malls.

[edit] 2000–Present

Drastically expanding the number of Forever 21 stores nationally, Forever 21 opened XXI flagship stores in Georgia, Texas, Miami, Los Angeles, Orem, Chicago, and Canada. The average size of XXI venues are average of 24,000 square feet (2,200 m²). Since 2002, Forever 21 has been ranked as one of the 50 largest privately held companies in Los Angeles. In 2005, Forever 21 was operating over 355 locations nationwide with the brands Forever 21, XXI Forever, For Love 21, and Gadzooks. In September 2008, Forever 21 opened its flagship store in North Atlanta, Georgia (Dunwoody), the first XXI flagship in Georgia. Its numerous shop-in-shop concepts demonstrates the continuing strength of boutique and specialty retailing over the department or megastore format.

Forever 21 will open its West Coast flagship in the Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, California by Fall 2009. The company will also open its first Puerto Rico flagship at Plaza Las Américas during Summer 2009. Forever 21 also has flagship locations in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. The largest Forever 21 store to date is located in Calexico, California.

Its revenue topped $1 billion in 2006, placing Forever 21 in the ranks of the top 500 privately held companies in the U.S. The business strategy of Forever 21 has budgeted expenses in advertising. The company chooses to keep their money away from premium real estate that attracts heavy commercial traffic.

Urban Outfitters originated as “The Free People’s Store” and in 1970 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, focusing on “funky” fashion and household products. Shortly thereafter the owner (now Chairman), Richard Hayne, changed the name to Urban Outfitters. Urban Outfitters line has evolved from vintage, bohemian, retro, ironically humorous, kitschy apparel and furniture to include luxury brands such as Lacoste, Evisu, Diesel, True Religion and Seven for All Mankind.