H&M wins Retail Middle East's New Retail Brand on the Year Award

Held under the patronage of HE Sheikha Lubna Bint Khaled Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Economy, the second annual Retail ME Awards were given away at a gala ceremony in Dubai on Monday, the 19th of February. Jazz Hayer, H&M Middle East Business Director received the award from Mr. Lothar Hohmann, Managing Director of Precise Trading.

The award reflects the success achieved by H&M in the Middle East. With the support of its regional partner M.H. Alshaya Group, H&M marked its Middle East foray on 6th of September, 2006 with two stores in Dubai, a third store in Ibn Battuta Mall on the 13th of September and a store in Kuwait's Marina Mall on the 20th of September.

The objective of the Retail ME Awards centered on promoting innovation, recognising excellence and fostering new ideas in the industry. The New Retail Brand of the Year Award was designed to recognise new product development skills shown by retailers in the Middle East. The nominees were closely monitored based on their in-house label range, new product category and how the range was researched, developed, introduced and accepted by the customer.

Reacting to the award, Hayer said: "We are delighted to receive this award that recognizes our entry and impact into the Middle Eastern Market. This has been achieved through a successful partnership between H&M and Alshaya. This award acknowledges the great work of our team and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of them for their contribution and dedication."

He added: "This region is a very fashion conscious market looking for a great retail experience. H&M's unique business concept of offering customers added value through fashion and quality at the best price has proved to be very popular with our customers in the Middle East - as evidenced by our thriving stores in Dubai and Kuwait. Furthermore, we are very excited about our 5 new stores that are opening in March (2 in Kuwait, 2 in Dubai and 1 in Qatar) and look forward to our customers enjoying an even greater shopping experience with us in the future.'

H&M announced last week that it will unveil two new stores at Deira City Centre on the 14th of March 2007. The new stores, occupying approximately 800 and 1,100 square meters of fashion, will feature the retailer's most fashion forward collections for the entire family in both the young and family store.

H&M also announced that it will open its first store in Qatar on March 7, 2007. Set to be unveiled at Doha's Villaggio, the new H&M store will occupy 2,200 square meters of fashion for women, men, teens and children.

H&M has also unveiled plans to open its largest store in the Middle East soon in Kuwait at The Avenues.

This spring, H&M is also set to unravel a new experience in Dubai, Kuwait and Qatar. In an another first of its kind, H&M has teamed up with Madonna to create 'M by Madonna', a line of clothing and accessories that is scheduled to arrive in all stores carrying the women's wear collection on the 22nd of March.

The 'M by Madonna' line will reflect Madonna's timeless, unique and always glamorous style. A long standing cultural icon whose enormous global influence on how people dress and look is without equal, Madonna worked hand in hand with H&M Head of design Margareta van den Bosch to create a wardrobe of clothing and accessories that represent her own personal and modern spin on her very own wardrobe staples.