H&M

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB, commonly known by its brand name H&M, is a Swedish multinational clothing company headquartered in Stockholm. Built on a fast fashion business model, the retailer sells apparel, accessories, and homeware. The company operates thousands of stores across 75 geographical markets and employs over 171,000 people worldwide.

H&M is the second-largest international clothing retailer after Inditex. H&M was founded by Erling Persson in 1947 under the name Hennes. The CEO of H&M from 2020 to 2024 was Helena Helmersson. The current CEO, as of January 2024, is Daniel Ervér.

History

Foundation

The business was established in 1947 by Erling Persson, when he opened his first shop in Västerås, Sweden. The shop was called Hennes (Swedish for 'hers') and only sold women's clothing. Another store opened in Norway, in 1964. In 1968, Persson acquired the hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss, located in Stockholm, which led to the inclusion of a menswear collection in the product range, and the name was changed to Hennes & Mauritz.

The company was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1974. Shortly after, in 1976, the first store outside Scandinavia opened in London. H&M continued to expand in Europe and began to retail online in 1998 with the domain hm.com, which was registered in 1997, according to data available via WHOIS. The opening of its first U.S. store on 31 March 2000 on Fifth Avenue in New York City marked the start of its expansion outside of Europe.

Home furnishings

In 2008, the company announced in a press release that it would begin selling home furnishings. While initially distributed online, the home furnishing items are now sold at H&M Home stores worldwide.