H&M and their Blue Ocean and Red Ocean Strategy - Essay Example

This paper talks about a brief history of the company H&M and the strategies that it has used and is using that have contributed majorly to their growth and expansion. The paper focuses on two very different strategies, the Blue Ocean Strategy and the Red Ocean Strategy and their characteristics. It attempts to answer whether H&M really used the Blue Ocean Strategy or were they only able to utilize strategies in the Red Ocean. Anyone who is fashion-forward and fashion-conscious would certainly recognize the brand name H&M.

Popular for selling and creating trendy pieces at an affordable price, it is no wonder that a lot of people choose to buy from the retail store. Created by Erling Persson in the year 1947, the company H&M had its roots back in Sweden as a fashion retail store that sold only women’s clothing. His first store was named Hennes, the Swedish equivalent of “hers”. Twenty one years later, the name was changed to “Hennes and Mauritz” after Persson purchased a hunting store located in Stockholm named Mauritz Widforss.

The hunting store sold not only supplies for hunting, but men’s wear as well. It was only then that the store catered to both men and women’s fashion. Over the years, H&M continued to expand and opened numerous stores all over Europe. Their clothing line expanded to cater to men, women, teens, and children. H&M opened their stores in several countries such as USA, Canada, Dubai, Kuwait, Hongkong, China, and Japan. The fashion label will also open stores in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and South Korea by 2010.

The company line also offers online shopping limited to countries in Europe namely Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Holland, Norway, Sweden, and Swedish Finland. In the past, the H&M also featured one-time collections made by popular, well- known designers such as Karl Lagerfeld back in 2004 and Stella McCartney in the year 2005, and Viktor & Rolf in