Looking for cheap, stylish interiors? H&M Home opens first shop in Ireland

Ireland got its first bricks and mortar taste of Home Concept, H&M’s design driven, budget-friendly interiors brand, with the opening of its store in Opera Lane, Cork, this week.

One of the Swedish retailing giant’s eight brands – which also includes & Other Stories and Cos – Home Concept, which initially launched online in 2009 with home textiles, is now one of its fastest growing divisions.

“H&M started in 1947 to democratise fashion and, now, it offers interiors at affordable prices,” says Henrik Nordvall, country manager for UK and Ireland, adding that demand “has been building up”, as he explains why it has taken so long to open an outlet in Ireland.

“Online has a very high share of the market all over Europe and now is the right time for [a physical presence in] Ireland. We normally do it step by step,” he says, adding that “what’s on offer [in Cork] is more from an accessories point of view, presented in a beautiful and stylish way, from cushion covers to candles and photo frames”.

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Ordering online currently takes seven to 10 days for delivery but efforts are afoot to shorten this. The new store will have a click and collect locker, which will allow customers to cut delivery costs by getting online orders delivered to the store.

Dubliners will have to wait until November 3rd, however, when a much bigger concept store opens in Liffey Valley, with bedding and furniture included. Customers can shop its fashion forward decor either by shopping online and collecting, or by visiting and bringing purchases home directly.

This follows the strategy in the UK, where the first concept store along these lines opened in Manchester last year; the London flagship threw open its doors for homewares on Regent Street in 2019. The company currently has 201 stores across the UK and Ireland and, according to H&M, physical stores remain important to their customer offering.

The interiors collection is huge, covering items for every part of the home, from kitchen and livingrooms to bathrooms and children’s rooms with colour and pattern developed over the seasons. For 2023, its earthy autumn/winter palette of green, brown, mustard and pink along with geometric patterns and stripes feature in everything from quilts and duvet covers to cushion covers, vases and tablecloths. The most expensive items are a wooden desk for €299 and a chenille rug €349.

“It’s about getting the home ready for the autumn season, including fragrances and candles in an affordable and stylish way and our authority is based on four things: fashion, quality, price and, since 2015, sustainability and doing everything from components through a sustainable lens,” Nordvall adds. The site offers a glimpse into some of the makers and their craftsmanship, from those who make the popular rattan and wood chairs (€299 each) in Indonesia, to Indian weavers and Portuguese potters.

In terms of taste, he sees similarities not only in clothing but also in home decor in all northern European markets.

“We work with regular drops that bring you step by step into each season and that brings excitement. You can decorate your home in different ways – we have Christmas coming up, for instance, and then spring – just like the way we dress ourselves and update on a regular basis. We build globally and then tweak it to make it locally relevant for each market,” he explains.

Nordvall is from Stockholm but is London based, visiting Ireland once a month to catch up with his team. He joined H&M straight after university fifteen years ago.

“It has been a long journey and I can say that I look forward every day to coming to work. I have had nine different roles in six different markets and my poor family had to travel with me but I have fallen in love with these markets and Ireland and the UK are currently some of the most dynamic in which to work.

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“The customer is demanding. It is very competitive out there as there are a lot of physical and digital channels and so, customer taste is developing and complicated also by Brexit, so all these things mean that you need to be on your toes constantly but H&M is a strong player. What the future holds will be very much due to the success of the concept. There is more to come and we want to grow in Ireland and open in other locations and cities.”