The history of H&M
The history of the fashion empire and one of the world’s most successful clothing chains starts in Smedjegatan in Västerås in 1947.
Erling Persson opened the first Hennes store in 1947 and, as the name reveals (hennes is the Swedish word for hers), it only sold women’s clothes. Just over 20 years later Erling acquired Mauritz Widforss, a men’s outfitters that also sold hunting equipment, and the new name was born: Hennes & Mauritz. The first store grew and moved into the building next door and now has 2500 sister stores in a total of about fifty countries.