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LEGO blocks originated in the Billund, Denmark, workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, who began making wooden toys in 1932. Two years later he named his company LEGO after the Danish phrase leg godt (“play well”).

Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943 at the age of 17, selling goods like pens and wallets. Småland, his home county in Sweden, was heavily forested with stony soil.

Volvo Cars is a Swedish company and the began its long history of safe and luxurious vehicles in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company was founded by Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson in 1927, and the first vehicle ever produced was the ÖV4, nicknamed Jakob.

In 1947 Erling Persson opened the store Hennes in Västerås, Sweden. Today the H&M group has several clearly defined brands that together make fashion and design accessible to people all over the world.