The decisions that made it
The Squeeze · Business Model
H&M's Inventory Glut Wasn't a Shein Problem. It Was a Currency Mirage and a Self-Inflicted One.
The story says Shein stole H&M's demand and left it drowning in SEK 42.5bn of unsold clothes. H&M's own filing says otherwise: the stock was currency-adjusted down 3%, the profit hit was Russia and cost inflation, and by 2025 the real problem had flipped to too little stock.
8 min
The Cannibalization Choice · Decision Forks
H&M's $4 Billion Pile of Unsold Clothes Wasn't Shein's Fault. It Was a Confession.
The famous $4 billion inventory glut is a 2018 number, not a Shein-era one. H&M had already fixed the warehouse by 2023 - stock down ~20% - and still lost ground. The clothes weren't the problem. The position was.
8 min
The Cannibalization Choice · Decision Forks
H&M Built Six Brands to Disrupt Itself. It Forgot to Disrupt the One That Mattered.
The story is that H&M cleverly cannibalized its mass-market cash cow with premium brands like COS and ARKET. It didn't. The flagship kept expanding to 5,076 stores in 2019 - right up until Shein and a glut of unsold inventory made the choice for it.
7 min
The Squeeze · Business Model
H&M's Middle Was Its Whole Strategy. Then Both Ends Walked Away.
Zara raised prices and went upmarket. Shein cratered prices and went viral. H&M held the middle — and in 2024 quietly scrapped its own 10% operating-margin target, posting 7.4% with no end left to defend.
7 min
The Crisis Response · Crisis & Reinvention
H&M Won Every Greenwashing Lawsuit. Then It Killed the Brand Anyway.
Two US courts threw out the greenwashing class actions against H&M's Conscious Choice line - no reasonable consumer would be misled. So in September 2023 H&M quietly retired the 12-year-old label entirely. Winning in court and surrendering the brand are the same admission.
8 min