demands. They create a sense of urgency for consumers to purchase clothing because they are constantly changing their layout and stock, so it may not be in store the next time they visit. The clothing is then only worn a few times before it is no longer in style. This creates the need to constantly be buying new items at a cheap cost. Unlike many fashion companies, Zara hardly invests in television or press promotional campaigns and instead relies on store windows to convey the brand image, the spread of word-of-mouth and locating their shops strategically in areas with high consumer traffic. The origin story of H&M shares common threads with Zara; technically it is the world's longest-running retailer. In 1946, Erling Persson, a Swedish entrepreneur, traveled to New York City, USA, where he was greatly intrigued and impressed by the high-volume fashion production he witnessed. The following year, Persson established a women's wear store called Hennes & Mauritz (or H&M) in Västerås, Sweden. Between 1960 and 1979, the company rapidly expanded, with 42 stores across Europe, and began producing clothing not just for women, but men and children as well. The foundation for expansion into the global market was laid in the 1980s when H&M acquired Rowells, a Swedish mail order company, and used its networks to sell fast fashion by catalogue and mail order. In the 1990s, H&M invested in large city billboard advertising, featuring famous celebrities and supermodels. H&M opened its flagship USA store on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 2000, marking the commencement of its expansion outside of Europe. Zaw Thiha Tun, a Vancouver, CA-based investment advisor, examined the secret of H&M's success as a company and notes that the business model of H&M is unlike other fast fashion companies, such as Zara, as H&M does not manufacture any products in-house. Rather, they outsource production to more than 900 independent suppliers mainly located in Europe and Asia, which are in turn managed by 30 strategically-located oversight offices. They also depend on state-of-the-art IT infrastructure and networks to connect the central national office and the production offices. This method has been crucial to H&M's success: they don't have the overhead from owning factories, or need to secure fabrics in advance, and they have been able to reduce their lead times through continuous developments in the buying process. Concept Fast fashion brands produce pieces to get