H&M has bad news for its loyal customers | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Thus far, 2025 has not been a great year for those who enjoy spending a weekend day at the mall, shopping just to relish a bit of retail therapy.

In large part, that’s been because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs announced in April, which sent shockwaves of concern and worry across both business and consumer sectors.

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In short, the news made it clear that a lot of prices were likely about to go up, especially for businesses that heavily rely on suppliers in China.

That concern was validated a few weeks later, when retailers started to touch on the topics during their earnings calls.

Perhaps the most alarming one was Walmart’s, during which it advised that price increases were coming. As a retailer that caters heavily to a lower-income customer, that was particularly scary news for billions of people.

It’s hardly a surprise that this economic climate has caused some folks to pull back on nonessential spending. Retail sales declined 0.9% in May, the Commerce Department reported.

Now as people redirect their attention to saving money, another popular retailer has confirmed some changes are on the horizon.

H&M’s CEO had some news that might be difficult for customers to hear.

Image source&colon; Cheng Xin/Getty Images

H&M says exactly what people don’t want to hear

Swedish fashion brand H&M (HNNMY) has long been popular in the U.S. for its take on modern trends at affordable prices.

The brand reported good news during its earnings call on June 26, saying that after a sluggish first half of the year, June sales have increased by 3%.

Despite that, CEO Daniel Erver said that shoppers are very price sensitive right now, noting cautious behavior in what he called “uncertain times.”

As for price increases, Erver said during a conference call that they may very well be on the way.

“We are very, very closely monitoring and seeing different developments, and we’re starting to see some competitors increasing prices,” he said.

“And that’s, of course, something that we’re looking into to make sure that we stay competitive on our position.”

However, H&M also noted in a new statement that while price increases could be a necessity, the customer won’t necessarily take the full brunt of the change.

“With good flexibility in the supply chain and through the pricing of the customer offering, there are opportunities to adapt the business to changed conditions,” the statement read.

Why H&M is so beloved

While the Swedish brand is not unique in offering affordable clothing and accessories, it does have something that other budget brands lack: collaboration with major fashion names.

The brand launched a line with fashion legend Jimmy Choo in November 2024, making it possible for even the middle class to own a pair of fabled Jimmy Choo heels.

The Choo collaboration was part of an event to celebrate 20 years of H&M collaborations with key names in the fashion space. H&M also brought back limited items from prior collaborations with designers Karl Lagerfeld, Balmain, Lanvin, Moschino, and Isabel Marant.

This unique aspect of the fast-fashion brand may be why people are still spending money to buy apparel there, despite the economic climate. Its collaborations are limited-edition runs, and when the items are gone, they’re gone.

This leaves many scrambling to get them while they can for their own closets or to resell at a higher cost.