Fast fashion giant H&M will close its flagship store in Beijing’s Sanlitun on June 11 opting not to renew the lease when it expires. 

The flagship store in Sanlitun, which opened in 2014, has three storeys and is one of the largest H&M stores in China, measuring more than 1200sqm. H&M said that it will open new flagship stores in Beijing and other Chinese cities once it identifies suitable locations. 

H&M first launched in the Chinese market in 2007 and quickly grew its network to more than 500 outlets in China’s key cities. However, due to the effects of Covid-19 lockdowns and a backlash against companies that refuse to use Xinjiang cotton, the fast-fashion company last year shut down its flagship on Huaihai Middle Road in Shanghai, its first store on the Chinese mainland.

The same year, the company closed its store at Macau’s The Venetian Macao after seven years of serving in the market. 

H&M closed 240 stores by last year, although it announced it would open stores in other potential markets, including Ecuador, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and – via franchise – Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Cambodia. Stores to be closed will primarily be in markets where the brand is well established. 

H&M also sells through sister chains including Cos, & Other Stories, and Monki. These brands are expanding in other areas like  Singapore, Australia, and the Philippines, however, H&M closed its Monki Tmall flagship store and withdrew from the Chinese market last year. 

.