Afound was launched as a concept in 2018 by H&M Group and then repositioned in 2019 as a digital marketplace. At the time a spokesperson for H&M Group told Just Style it would sell brands from within the H&M Group and external ones.

In 2019 it made its foray out of Sweden – where it operated online and out of six stores – and debuted in the Netherlands.

A spokesperson had told Just Style while expansion plans at that stage had not been revised, changes were to put “even more emphasis” on the digital part of the business and less on the physical operations.”

However, in an apparent u-turn, H&M Group said: “When evaluating Afound’s current position, we don’t see enough demand, partly because brands increasingly choose to use their own channels for sales, to further strengthen their customer relationships. This has led to the difficult but necessary decision to discontinue Afound.”

Afound will close later this autumn and the ongoing operations will be phased out during the coming months.

H&M Group says the team will be supported in continuing their career within or outside the group.

“Afound and the team have broken new ground for H&M Group, renewing off-price in a way that has served both customers and brands since the start in 2018 and the valuable insights and learnings generated during the journey will be captured and built on going forward,” H&M Group added.