Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed black man, was killed on May 25 in Minneapolis by a white police officer, Derek Chauvin. His death has sparked protests, mostly of a peaceful nature, across the United States. But some retailers, including Adidas, Target and Walmart, have announced temporary store closures due to instances of violence and store looting in major cities like New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB or H&M has temporarily shuttered 95 of its stores in various regions across the U.S. following violence and looting amid the unrest related to the death of George Floyd.
H&M has around 600 stores in the U.S. and more than 5000 stores around the world. Despite being headquartered in Sweden, the retailer holds the most stores in the U.S., with the current count at about 595 stores.
Other retailers that closed down stores recently due to the arson and violence include Target, Walmart, Apple and CVS. This comes at a time when retailers were slowly reopening locations following the lockdown due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Walmart closed some stores due to damages, but further details are not yet known. Technology giant Apple also has closed certain of its stores, as per reports.
H&M Group also intends donate 500,000 dollars 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 (ACLU). These organizations fight for justice, economic rights and empowerment of the Black Community.
