H&M was founded by a man named Erling Persson in 1947. The first store opened in Sweden, where the company's headquarters is located. He started the company to offer fashionable clothing at a relatively cheap price. At first he only sold women's clothing until he met Mauritz Widforss in 1968. Mauritz was a hunting clothing retailer, who brought men's clothing to H&M. H&M is now the world's second-largest clothing retailer, making profits of $17 billion a year. Their stores can be found from the Middle East to Brazil, with over three thousand stores. H&M may not seem like a big company in the United States, but it has a huge impact on the world as a company.