H&M closes all stores in biggest markets Germany and the United States

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – H&M is temporarily closing all its 460 stores in Germany, its number one market for sales, and all 590 in its second largest market the United States, due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The world’s second-biggest fashion retailer said in a statement it was also closing all its stores in Canada, Portugal and Belgium.

It said its sales in China, where it has reopened most of its stores, had gradually started to recover, and that it was now focusing on adjusting buying and inventory levels.

H&M has over the past week also closed its stores in Italy Poland, Spain, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Belgium, France, Austria, Luxembourg, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and Kazakhstan, and also some in Greece.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Jan Harvey)