Fashion
The homecoming: “House of H&M” unveils a new chapter on Shanghai’s Huaihai Road
Published
September 10, 2025
In a significant return that feels both like a homecoming and a rebirth, H&M is set to officially reopen its flagship store at its original location on Shanghai’s Huaihai Road. On Sept. 9, 2025, this re-engagement with a landmark site, which originally housed the brand’s first mainland China store, is more than a simple relocation.
As H&M’s first brand experience center, the “House of H&M” redefines the boundaries of a traditional store with a 3,000-square-meter retail space. Beyond offering a full product lineup, the new location will feature a variety of unique elements, including an H&M&Café, an H&M Flower Shop, an H&M&SPACE for exhibitions, and an H&M Live-Streaming Studio. This immersive and surprising space is designed to provide consumers with a comprehensive and distinctive brand experience.
Madame LV, president of the Huaihai Road Economic Development Association, spoke highly of the grand opening of the “House of H&M.” She noted that H&M’s contribution helps align with local consumer behaviors and drives the economic upgrade of the commercial district, while simultaneously building an elegant and fashionable retail destination.
She also added, “Through collaborating with Chinese designers and launching new collections, H&M is driving a deeper co-creation between international brands and local talent. This positions Huaihai Road as a key nexus where global trends and local creativity converge. Moreover, H&M’s focus on sustainable fashion aligns with Huaihai Road’s goal of building a responsible and forward-thinking commercial image. Together, they are enhancing the district’s industry influence in innovation and sustainable development.”
It’s also worth noting that this location will serve as the new home for H&M’s Greater China retail headquarters, with its offices situated on the upper floors of the store. Standing inside the brand’s new “home,” FashionNetwork.com had another opportunity to speak with Mr. Saed El-Achkar, president of the group’s Greater China retail division, to gain more insights into this grand event.
FashionNetwork.com: As offline stores evolve into lifestyle spaces, functions imply value trade-offs. What debates led to “House of H&M’s” mix of HOME/Café/Flower Shop/Exhibitions/Live-Streaming Studio?
Saed El-Achkar: This key highlight is China’s first H&M HOME concept store, which fills a market gap and represents a new retail exploration for the brand in China. It’s a key part of redefining the H&M lifestyle ecosystem. The H&M&Café and H&M Flower Shop are designed to enhance the consumer experience. The H&M&SPACE exhibition area serves as a cultural hub for the brand. The in-store H&M Live-Streaming Studio will be operated via a newly launched “House of H&M” account on Douyin. The studio will also invite celebrities, KOLs, designers, and models to discuss trends during major brand events, making it a hub that connects fashion, entertainment, and commerce.
FN: Please introduce us to the unique H&M&SPACE and outline its future plans.
SEA: As H&M’s first publicly accessible exhibition space globally, the H&M&SPACE will not only showcase the brand’s classic designs and new collections but also serve as a hub for cross-industry collaborations with fashion partners. This space is designed to highlight H&M’s heritage and breakthroughs in its fashion journey.
For our grand opening, the H&M&SPACE will debut a curated collection of H&M Studio archival pieces from recent years. This selection features runway highlights and limited-edition designs, each piece sourced from the brand’s valuable archives. It offers a glimpse into H&M Studio’s signature trajectory of experimentation in tailoring, material innovation, and stylistic breakthroughs — all imbued with a sense of time-tested quality and design edge.
And more than just an exhibition space, the H&M&SPACE is a new platform for us to engage with fashion lovers. While exploring classic fashion archives, consumers will also discover H&M’s continuously evolving fashion vision and innovative expression.
FN: With “House of H&M” reopening on its original Huaihai Road site, if Shanghai were a “co-creator,” what has the district taught H&M about commerce and urban lifestyle over the years?
SEA: H&M entered the Chinese retail market nearly two decades ago, with its journey beginning in 2007 with the opening of its first store on Shanghai’s Huaihai Road. The energy and potential of Shanghai’s consumer market inspired us to build our Huaihai Road store into our most iconic flagship in China, showcasing the brand’s latest image with higher-quality products and an elevated experience.
Specifically, Shanghai offers H&M a unique consumer market. The city is renowned for its high purchasing power and strong preference for stylish, high-quality products that are also affordably priced. This aligns perfectly with H&M’s business philosophy, enabling us to provide Shanghai consumers with products that offer both great style and great value.
Additionally, Shanghai holds significant strategic importance for H&M’s brand image and market expansion. As a major fashion hub in Asia, Shanghai is fertile ground for new trends. These initiatives have helped H&M stay attuned to local fashion trends, enhancing its brand image as a forward-thinking and culturally relevant retailer.
FN: If you bring the “House of H&M” concept to other cities, which single “soul element” must remain?
SEA: “Making fashion accessible to everyone” is H&M’s core philosophy and the guiding principle behind the “House of H&M.” As China is a crucial strategic market for us, our goal is to create a world of high-quality, affordable fashion for Chinese consumers, empowering them to express themselves through style. We will continue to build on this goal in the future by focusing on product excellence, elevating brand power, and improving our customer experience.
Written by Sissi Chu
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Wholesale revenue dropped 12.8 per cent on a currency-adjusted basis to €4.9 billion, while direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales increased 3.4 per cent, lifting the DTC share to 32.4 per cent from 28.9 per cent.
Regionally, sales fell 6.9 per cent in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), 7.4 per cent in Asia-Pacific and 10 per cent in the Americas, with North America driving much of the decline.
Puma has reported sales of €7.3 billion (~$8.61 billion) in FY25, with currency-adjusted revenue down 8.1 per cent amid strategic reset actions.
Wholesale declined while DTC share increased.
Margins contracted and EBIT turned negative, leading to a net loss.
Q4 saw sharper declines across regions and categories.
Puma expects further sales softness and negative EBIT in FY26.
By product segment, footwear sales decreased 7.1 per cent, apparel declined 9.7 per cent and accessories fell 8.5 per cent, although selective growth was observed in running, training and premium sport style lines, Puma said in a press release.
Profitability weakened significantly during the year. Gross margin contracted 260 basis points to 45.0 per cent, impacted by promotional activity, inventory reserves, unfavourable mix and currency effects. Adjusted EBIT turned negative at €165.6 million, while reported EBIT declined to -€357.2 million after €191.6 million in one-off costs related mainly to the cost efficiency programme and goodwill impairments.
Loss from continuing operations widened to -€643.6 million, translating to earnings per share of -€4.37 versus €1.88 in the prior year.
From a balance sheet perspective, inventories rose 2.3 per cent to €2.06 billion as inventory takebacks from wholesale partners supported distribution clean-up. Working capital increased 20.2 per cent, while trade receivables and payables declined sharply in line with reduced sales and purchasing activity. Puma ended the year with additional financing capacity, including €1,202.2 million in unutilised credit lines.
Fourth quarter (Q4) performance reflected the peak impact of the strategic reset. Currency-adjusted sales declined 20.7 per cent to €1,564.9 million, with reported revenue down 27.2 per cent due to currency headwinds. The decline was driven by deliberate reductions in wholesale exposure, inventory clearance actions and lower promotional intensity.
Wholesale sales fell 27.7 per cent in Q4, while DTC revenue decreased 8.0 per cent, although DTC share increased to 41.1 per cent from 35.5 per cent. Regionally, sales dropped 12.6 per cent in Asia-Pacific, 22.2 per cent in the Americas and 24.3 per cent in EMEA.
Across product divisions, footwear sales declined 25.4 per cent, apparel fell 13.7 per cent and accessories dropped 18.2 per cent, with selective resilience in training and performance running categories.
Profitability deteriorated sharply. Gross margin declined to 40.2 per cent from 47.7 per cent due to promotions, inventory provisions and currency effects. Adjusted EBIT fell to -€228.8 million, while reported EBIT reached -€307.7 million following one-off costs linked to restructuring and impairment charges. The quarter ended with a loss from continuing operations of -€335 million.
Arthur Hoeld, CEO of Puma, said: “2025 was a reset year for us. We want to establish Puma as a top 3 sports brand globally, return to above-industry growth and generate healthy profits in the medium term. It is crucial to make the Puma brand less commercial and ensure we once again excite our consumers with attractive products, compelling storytelling and distribution in the right channels. I am satisfied with the progress we have made so far. We cleaned up most of our distribution by reducing promotions in our own channels and cutting our exposure to those wholesale channels that damage our brand’s desirability. To better position our product icons and our performance offering and tell more engaging product stories, we created the right structures inside our company. We also addressed operational inefficiencies and further optimised our cost base.”
Looking ahead, Puma expects currency-adjusted sales in fiscal 2026 to decline in the low- to mid-single-digit percentage range, with EBIT projected between -€50 million and -€150 million. Capital expenditure of around €200 million is planned as the company continues investments in brand repositioning and digital capabilities, added the release.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)
Nominal GDP, or GDP at current prices, is estimated to grow at 8.6 per cent to reach ₹345.47 trillion in FY26 against ₹318.07 trillion in 2024-25.
India’s real GDP is estimated to grow at 7.6 per cent to ₹322.58 trillion (~$3.54 billion) in FY26 compared to the first revised GDP estimate of ₹299.89 trillion for FY25 (7.1 per cent growth).
It released the new series of annual and quarterly national accounts estimates with FY23 base.
Real GVA is projected to grow at 7.7 per cent to reach ₹294.40 trillion in FY26 against ₹273.36 trillion in FY25.
Real gross value added (GVA) is projected to grow at 7.7 per cent to reach ₹294.40 trillion in FY26 against ₹273.36 trillion in FY25 (a 7.3-per cent growth rate).
Nominal GVA is estimated to grow at 8.7 per cent to hit ₹313.61 trillion during FY26, against ₹288.54 lakh crore in 2024-25.
Robust economic performance in FY26 is primarily on account of robust real growth observed in the second quarter (8.4 per cent) and third quarter (7.8 per cent).
The manufacturing sector has been the major driver of resilient performance of the economy the consecutive three fiscals after rebasing, a release from the ministry said.
Both private final consumption expenditure and grossed fixed capital formation exhibited more than 7-per cent growth rate in FY26.
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