Summer Internship at H&M's Flagship Store in New York City                                      

Surrounded by the loud New York City traffic and the morning rush of people, I was standing in front of the big glass entrance to “Store 001” on Fifth Avenue. During the coming five weeks I would learn about the challenges of a retail business on the most competitive market in the world. Being the first Swedish student to do an internship at H&M in the US gave me feelings of huge excitement and high expectations. This was the beginning of an intense month and a memorable summer in New York City.

The first week of my sales internship I would work in the H&M flagship store (Store 001) together with Carl Gillberg, a trainee from H&M in Sweden. Our first day started with an on-boarding day in the store when we were introduced to the store staff and were guided through the different sales departments before we went out on the selling floor to work and to meet customers. During this week our tasks included for instance being on the sales floor, unloading the trucks that arrived with clothes from the warehouse and preparing for the big summer SALE.  By this rotating job philosophy we got the possibility to learn about the operations in the store. Together with the visual manager and his team we also learned about the different H&M clothes concepts and how products were commercially presented in the store. After one week in store 001 I felt that I had gained a good understanding and knowledge about the reality of the sales process and the factors that affect it. This knowledge came to be very useful for my work in the coming weeks.

The second week was an introduction week when Carl and I had the opportunity to spend the whole week with each of the different functions at the support office. The office was located on 15th floor on South Park Avenue, by Union Square. During this week we met with the merchandising department, the visual team, the controlling side, the marketing and the expansion departments. The merchandising department gave us an introduction to H&M sales in the US and to sales strategies concerning everything from product allocation to reductions. We also listened to presentations held by the other departments and participated in telephone conferences, meetings and were given casework. It was a very interesting and fun week that really gave me a more complete picture of the work of the entire H&M organization in the US.

The rest of my internship I worked with two projects. My first and main project was a “Visual Merchandising test” where the aim was to test the sales outcome of two different clothes presentation techniques in two of the biggest H&M stores on Manhattan. I spent my time at the support office as well as in the stores, setting up a suitable structure for the visual test and following up on the sales figures. My second project had the purpose of analyzing and developing a tool for a certain part of the current allocation system of products to the different stores in the country. This made it necessary for me to learn about the product allocation system and how it was used.

I also got the opportunity to visit the East Coast Distribution Center (warehouse) located in New Jersey. There, I could see the warehouse processing of clothes; from the arrival of the products in the US, to quality checking, repacking and store delivery.

What I mostly appreciated during my internship at H&M in New York was that I was, from the very first day, expected to take my own initiatives, lead my work and take an active part in the weekly sales meetings and other activities that concerned the daily work of the merchandising team. This was an excellent way to learn about the work at H&M and also to get to know the people within the organization. My colleagues were always very generous with their time and helped me whenever I needed. During my period at H&M I met very nice and interesting people with various backgrounds both from the US, Sweden and other countries. Of around 50 employees at the office, most were Americans. Of the 8 Swedish employees there, many of them had long experience within the company from having worked with H&M both in Sweden and abroad.  What fascinated me was that although H&M is a global company with such a rapid current expansion, it seems to have successfully managed to keep the original H&M culture and spirit intact. The company culture appears to remain the same throughout the whole organization, in Sweden as well as in the US.

 For my part, I cannot imagine a more exciting and valuable experience than working for HM in New York City this past summer. My month there passed by very quickly and I actually had wished that the internship had lasted longer than five weeks.

My life in New York during this time was wonderful. I really feel that I managed to get to know the city during my five weeks, not only by visiting traditional tourist spots but also by living an everyday life there. Then, of course I definitely enjoyed the large variety of different restaurants and the great nightlife of New York. During some weekends I also left Manhattan and visited places like the Hamptons and Long Beach.  I really had an unforgettable summer month with H&M in New York.

Sincerely,

Sophie Strömbäck