H&M's Store Closure Plan Raises Doubts on Sales Revival

Company to close 170 stores and add new cheap format, Afound
Shares slump to nine-year intraday low in Stockholm trading

A shoppers carries a Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) bag at the Easton Town Center Mall in Columbus, Ohio, U.S., on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017. Americans displayed their buying bona fides in the final run-up to Christmas, turning out in force to produce what may be the best holiday shopping season in years.Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg

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By Anna Molin and Thomas Mulier

January 31, 2018 at 7:10 AM UTC

Updated on

January 31, 2018 at 11:50 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Investors gave a thumbs-down to a Hennes & Mauritz AB turnaround plan that includes the biggest store-closure program in at least a decade and the creation of a new brand to sell marked-down clothing.

The Swedish company plans to shut 170 stores this year, even as it adds a format called Afound, which joins the main H&M chain and other recent additions like Arket. The retailer said it would invest more in online sales and digital inventory-tracking technology, while adding shops in markets that are still growing.