H&M’s new brand Arket opens online shop in 18 European countries

H&M is launching a new retail brand, called Arket, which features both Arket’s own products and non-H&M brands. The Arket products are priced slightly higher than that of the core H&M brand. Arket stores will be opened in London, Brussels, Copenhagen and Munich, while online stores of the brand will launch in 18 European countries.

The Business of Fashion broke the news yesterday, revealing that Arket will be a “modern-day market that will offer essential products for men, women, children and home”. But these essentials will be priced higher than H&M consumers are accustomed to. A men’s shirt for example, will start at 39 euros and can go up to 115 euros.

“The overall direction and focus is quality in simple, timeless and functional designs”, the company explained. “There will be products in a broad price range, with emphasis on materials, function and fit.”

Arket starts in Europe

Arket will open its first physical store in London in early autumn of this year. Simultaneously, Arket will launch online shops in 18 countries across Europe, after which physical stores will open in Brussels, Copenhagen and Munich. According to the company, its main focus is Europe and so its starts there, but they are looking into more cities to open Arket stores.

H&M’s online presence in Europe

Almost exactly one year ago, H&M launched online stores in 7 new countries in Europe. The Swedish fashion retailer opened ecommerce websites in Croatia, Estonia, Lathia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Luxembourg and Ireland. As of today, H&M is active in 65 countries and has online stores in 35 of them. In Europe, H&M has online stores in 30 European countries. Outside Europe, it has an online presence in the United States, Canada, China, Japan and South Korea.