Västerås hosted H&M’s first store, opened by Erling Persson in 1947.
Persson opened the store under the name Hennes, a Swedish word meaning “hers,” because the business initially sold women’s clothing. Västerås, a city west of Stockholm, was the starting point for the company that later became one of the world’s largest fashion retailers.
The business expanded beyond its original city during the following decades. In 1968, Persson acquired the hunting- and fishing-equipment retailer Mauritz Widforss. That acquisition added menswear and led to the name Hennes & Mauritz, later shortened in everyday use to H&M.
Västerås is sometimes mistaken for Stockholm because H&M is headquartered in Stockholm today. The company’s origin story, however, begins with the first Hennes shop in Västerås.