& Other Stories Arrives in Mexico With a Real Estate Developer Behind Its Expansion
- SOMA developed ARTZ Pedregal, where & Other Stories opened its first store, and is involved in its entry into Mexico through Retail Fashion Group.
Swedish fashion brand & Other Stories, part of H&M Group, entered Mexico in October with an omnichannel strategy and commercial partners that will let it expand beyond its own stores as it identifies Mexican consumers’ preferences¹.
Its first step was opening a boutique at ARTZ Pedregal in Mexico City in partnership with Retail Fashion Group, a SOMA company. SOMA is also the real estate group that developed the shopping center. The relationship could extend into the brand’s next phase of expansion, as H&M Group has also confirmed plans to open a store at Antara Fashion Hall in Polanco, another SOMA property. In addition to its own shops, & Other Stories plans to sell its collections online and through El Palacio de Hierro.
Each party involved plays a different role in this strategy. Retail Fashion Group brings experience introducing and operating international brands, while El Palacio de Hierro offers an established store network through which the Swedish brand can build awareness and test the market. The collaboration also lets SOMA strengthen its ties with international brands, potentially driving demand for retail space. El Palacio de Hierro, for its part, is diversifying its offerings with collections from a new brand.
Apparel and Footwear Brands in Mexico City Shopping Centers
& Other Stories is entering a market with a strong apparel and footwear presence. According to SiiLA data, the shopping centers monitored in Mexico City have 426 unique tenants in these categories, accounting for 21% of the total. Together, they occupy approximately 570,000 square meters, or 17% of the recorded retail space.
Although the number of apparel and footwear tenants has remained virtually unchanged, the mix of brands in Mexico City’s shopping centers has changed considerably. Between the second quarter of 2023 and the same period in 2026, tenants in these categories declined 0.9%, while their occupied space increased 2.9%. A comparison of the two periods identified 95 brands that were not initially included in the monitored inventory and another 99 that were no longer present, along with 103 that expanded their occupied space and 92 that reduced it².
For shopping center owners, these changes matter beyond the number of brands present, as they also shift how retail space is distributed among operators. Although real estate developers have traditionally sought to attract brands looking to expand, the relationship between SOMA and & Other Stories illustrates another possibility: participating in the introduction and operation of brands that could eventually occupy their own properties. As a result, demand for retail space could depend not only on third-party expansion decisions but also on businesses in which property owners are directly involved.
To learn more about retail tenants in Mexico and the space they occupy in the country’s shopping centers, visit SiiLA Market Analytics or contact us at contacto@siila.com.mx.
***
¹ Erik Sjögren, head of growth at & Other Stories, acknowledged in an interview with Vogue Mexico that the company still needs to identify which of its products and categories will resonate most with Mexican consumers.
² Brand additions, departures and changes in occupied space are based on a direct comparison between the second quarter of 2023 and the second quarter of 2026, rather than the sum of quarterly changes. The data covers unique tenants in the shopping centers SiiLA monitors.
