H&M, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, said on Tuesday it
had temporarily closed 95 of its stores in the US because of the
violent protests following the death of George Floyd in police custody.
“We have closed 95 stores temporarily due to the protests,” an H&M spokesman told Reuters.
The protests erupted across the US after the death of Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man on May 25.
On Monday, demonstrators set fire to a strip mall in Los Angeles, looted
stores in New York City and clashed with police in St Louis, Missouri.
In a statement, H&M, which has around 600 stores in the United
States, said: “The recent killings of more members of the black
community in the US leave us devastated and heartbroken. Their lives,
and the lives of all black people taken by violence, mattered.”
The statement, signed by CEO Helena Helmersson, said H&M was
committed to taking tangible steps to challenge racism and support
colleagues, customers and communities.
H&M also said it would to donate $500,000 to US civil rights and law
firm the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, civil rights advocacy
group Color of Change, and the American Civil Liberties Union.
