Fast fashion brand H&M is to shut its store in Singapore’s bustling Ion Orchard shopping mall after more than a decade of trading there. 

“We are closing March 12, 2023,” the brand announced on its social media, saying it hoped customers would meet them “in other places”. 

Located in the basement levels of the shopping mall, the store opened in 2012, a year after the brand entered the country. Since its launch there, the brand expanded to 11 stores in Singapore. 

The move followed the closure of H&M’s Tampines store and Punggol store in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The brand’s flagship store on Orchard Road will remain open, but by March 12, H&M will have only eight locations in the city-state. 

Even taking into account the prominent location, the store’s closure does not come as a complete surprise given the retailer has been gradually shrinking its global store network. Last year alone it closed 185 stores while increasing its digital focus.

The world’s second-biggest fashion retailer reported a larger dive than expected in September-November operating profit, hampered by soaring costs and weakening consumer confidence.

The Swedish group’s fiscal fourth quarter’s operating profit in the period was US$79.7 million against $607.8 million a year earlier.