H&M finally opens first of seven retail shops

Swedish garment retail network Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) opened its first shop in the country marking its awaited debut on the Polish market, and according to retail analysts, taking advantage of the final call to enter the region. In a bold scheme the company wants to increase the number of its points of sale in Poland by seven over the next five years and says it is expecting to break even in the same time frame. "Although we entered the market much later than our competition, we are planning to launch our own network. In the long run, we hope to capture 5% of the market," said Hans Andersson, H&M country manager for Poland and Germany. However, he would not disclose any details concerning the investment. (Puls Biznesu, p. 9) J.K.