Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) will open its first two stores in Romania this week, on March 25 and March 26 (Friday and Saturday). Both stores will be located in Bucharest. The first one will be opened in AFI Palace Cotroceni shopping center on March 25, and the second, in Unirea Shopping Center downtown Bucharest. Check out prices for the H&M products in its Romania stores on their website here (prices in RON).

H&M was one of the most awaited foreign names in the local fashion retail, with local media having reported on their market entry already several years ago. Both stores in Bucharest will be located on two floors and have been under works for the last couple of months. The store in AFI Palace Cotroceni will cover 1,700 sqm, while the one in Unirea Shopping Center, 2,500 sqm. Both stores will employ 140 people in total.

The fashion retailer plans to open six stores in the first half of the year in Romania, five of which in Bucharest, and one in Brasov. Works are underway for its store in Bucuresti Mall, owned by Anchor Group, which has built a new wing to the existing structure to host H&M's new store. H&M stores will also be opened in Plaza Romania and in Baneasa Shopping City. The retailer will thus cover the major shopping centers in Bucharest, within a short time frame of openings. Outside Bucharest, H&M plans to open stores in Iulius Mall's unit in Cluj – Napoca, Iasi and Timisoara. On its website dedicated to the Romanian market - here- the retailer has already listed the Plaza Romania and Baneasa Shopping City stores.

H&M runs around 2,200 stores in 38 countries across the world. H&M was established in Västerås, Sweden in 1947 by Erling Persson.

Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com