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H&M moves upscale

Fashion retailer H&M announced plans to launch a new premium chain called CoS (for Collection of Style), hoping to grab business from such stylish chains as Spain’s Inditex. The first store, at 5,000 square feet, will open March 16 on London’s Regent Street, and 10 more are to follow in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands this year. “The collection will be modern, stylish and chic, and high quality in everything from fabric to fit to the shopping experience,” said Nils Vinge, H&M’s investor relations manager, in a conference call with analysts.

Also on the plate for H&M this year: the opening of 170 of its regular units, mainly in Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. The company is also investigating Hong Kong, Shanghai, Greece, Slovakia and Qatar for stores. In terms of merchandise, designers will once again team up with Madonna for a new M collection, and some 200 stores will see a wider shoe selection beginning in February.

Following in the footsteps of Inditex, H&M will widen its offerings with an H&M Home concept and a catalog, to be rolled out online this fall in the Nordic region and expanded later to Germany and Austria. But these will not be extended to brick-and-mortar stores for some years, Vinge said.

Gamers score high

Video game retailers broke a sales record last year, generating about $12.5 billion in revenue, versus $10.5 billion for 2005, according to The NPD Group, a research firm. U.S. sales of portable and PC games grew to $13.5 billion, up 18 percent over 2005. Console hardware, including the highly sought-after PlayStation 3 and Wii, was the fastest-growing category, up 88 percent from 2005, the firm reports. All the action has benefited Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop, which says same-store sales jumped 23.9 percent for the nine weeks ended Dec. 30. The chain, which operates 4,633 stores in the U.S. and 14 other countries, says total sales increased 29 percent to $1.7 billion during the period. “We are seeing a broader base of customers enjoying the gaming experience than ever before,” said R. Richard Fontaine, GameStop’s chairman and CEO, in a press release. The company says same-store sales for the fourth quarter will be in the 23 percent range.

Bringing up Bebe

Bebe just keeps getting bigger. The Foothills Ranch, Calif.-based women’s apparel chain boosted its sales per square foot from $607 in 2003 to $827 last year, largely on the addition of handbags, denims and other new lines. Now the retailer moves into the year with plans to expand square footage by about 17.7 percent, says SG Cowen analyst Lauren Levithan. That’s on top of 14.9 percent growth last year and 8.8 percent in 2005. This desire for new space reflects the growth of its Bebe Sport concept, which is expanding to 59 stores by year-end. Another huge chunk of space will be added to existing Bebe stores to accommodate the new, higher-price Collection Bebe line and the Bebe Boudoir intimates collection. The company also continues to hone its higher-end Bebe Accessories concept, which was called Neda until the recent resignation of namesake Neda Mashouf from the management team and the board, says Levithan. She says she expects Bebe to continue to grow its square footage in the low double digits each year for the foreseeable future.