H&M 'to open four Irish stores'

The Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz is expected to open four outlets in Dublin, according to a weekend report.

As well as a major outlet planned for the Dundrum shopping centre, already announced in February, it wants a further suburban location and two city centre outlets.

The Sunday Tribune says that the chain has asked Hamilton Osborne King to find suitable properties for it.

Founded in 1947 in Sweden by Erling Persson, H&M operates in 18 countries and has more than 40,000 employees.The latest available end of year results for the company showed a 15% rise in sales to €5.74bn in 2002, €0.93bn profit.

The company more than doubled its turnover between 1999 and 2002 and opened over 300 new shops during the period.

The retailer plans to open 140 new shops this year, mainly in France, Germany, the US, Spain, Britain , Poland and its first step into Canada.