I posted this previously in !stockholm@lemmy.world, but that community never seemed to pick up any speed, so I hope more people can appreciate this historic tidbit.

This photo (not mine!) is from downtown Stockholm. It takes place in the late 1980's.

To the right, outside of the field of the picture, is an iconic food hall for international cuisine as well as for Swedish fish and crustacean cuisine. To the right, visible in the picture, is "Sergelgången", which is an iconic street in Stockholm between "Hötorget" and "Sergels torg". Also to the left, outside the field of the picture, is the major concert hall (Konserthuset) with its iconic steps that have been graced by both celebrities and random rubes, for warming up in the sun on the otherwise chilly Stockholm streets.

The camera is focused on an iconic Hennes ("hers" in Swedish) store, that was mainly for ladies' fashion. The company that owned Hennes decided to branch out and bought Mauritz, and they ran both ladies' and gentlemen's stores until they brought them together as "Hennes & Mauritz". They were known for poorly made clothes that broke or got broken after a few uses and washes. Their zippers were nationally shamed as proper trash fashion as they broke after one use. Basically, in Sweden they were known for youth or "poor mans" clothes. Popular among students, but once their buyres could afford decent clothes, these went to a land fill (as even the second hand stores refused to stock this crap).

When they decided to go international, they rebranded as H&M, and later HM.