The Swedish retail clothing disruptor, H&M, is launching a new
brand called Arket, and although the origin of the word in Swedish is “sheet of
paper” it is no accident that when you put “M” in front of the name you get “Market”
H&M are calling their new concept a modern day market,
offering essential products for men, women, children and the home. Their range
will include more expensive clothing than is currently available in H&M
stores and other brands that are not related to H&M. Their head office team
will include chefs so presumably we can expect an in-store food offering.
The first Arket store will open in London by mid 2017 with
additional locations in other key European cities and a website open to the
whole of Europe.
So how should traders in a "real" market react to this news. Should we get upset
at another upstart pinching our name? Should we be worried
that they might succeed in re-inventing the genre, and leave us in their dust? Or should we respond to the challenge as all good entrepreneurs do?