We visited an H&M store and saw everything that's wrong with the brand

Business Insider/Mary Hanbury

H&M's store is filled with sale signs.

• H&M reported its worst sales on record in the fourth quarter of 2017.
• The company is increasingly losing to fast-fashion competitors like Zara and ASOS, who have sped up their supply chain to stay on top of trends.
• We visited the store to see firsthand what's happening.

The king of fast fashion has been knocked off its pedestal.

For years, H&M was regarded as a revolutionary retailer with a speedy supply chain that enabled it to stay on top of trends. However, sales growth at the company started to falter in 2016 and continued throughout 2017, culminating in its biggest sales slump on record in the last quarter of 2017.

As a result, one its largest shareholders, Skandia - a Swedish savings and investment fund - has sold off most of its stake in the company, Bloomberg reported.

"There's so much they need to do that I don't think they'll solve this quickly," Erik Sjostrom, a senior portfolio manager at Skandia, told Bloomberg.

In the company's most recent earnings report in September 2017, CEO Karl-Johan Persson confirmed that a turnaround was at the forefront of the company's strategy. It's investing in new technology to speed up its supply chain, growing its online business, and adding new brands to its portfolio, such as Nyden, which launches this year.

But since then, the company has faced some unfortunate setbacks. Earlier this month, there was an outcry on social media after H&M was accused of racist advertising, and the chain was dropped by some of its brand ambassadors, including The Weeknd.

We visited one of its stores in New York City to find out why the brand is struggling:

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