Albin Hagström began importing accordions from Germany and Italy in 1925 and founded "Firma Albin Hagström". Albin expanded his business with shops in Sweden, Norway and Denmark and in 1932 he started manufacturing accordions himself in Älvdalen. In 1936, Hagström hired two Italian accordion builders who helped to update and streamline the manufacturing process. In 1939 Hagström started to establish themselves in USA by opening "Hagstrom Music Company Inc." in Rockefeller Center in New York as well as "Albin Hagstrom Inc." in Jamestown. However, in 1940 the launch was canceled due to World War II and the people hired to run the company disappeared with the company's funds. In 1946 Sven Hillring was sent over from Sweden to oversee a new launch of the new accordion factory in Jamestown, which was in business until 1949.