Blog

Välkommen til Hemslöjd!

Greetings from Lindsborg, Kansas, “Little Sweden, USA.” While it has been a crazy, scary and unfortunately ridiculous time the past few months, we hope this finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. It’s been a challenge at times, but Hemslöjd is stronger than ever and look forward to serving our great customers!

A brief look back….

As the COVID-19 pandemic and the fears it brings spread throughout the world, it began to impact small businesses like ours everywhere. While we are not alone, we were forced to close for over six weeks during March and April. This prevented us from seeing our many good friends that visit during Spring Break and those who travel through Kansas on their way back home in the Northland from their winter homes in the South. While this had a grave impact on sales, the greatest sadness it brought was not being able to see our many friends’ smiling faces.

As a business, we have been riding things out the best we can. During the shutdown, we were blessed to be able to keep our entire staff employed, albeit with reduced hours. To remain safe, we had one person coming in at a time, beginning at 7:00 a.m. and ending at 11:00 p.m.

Our gift shop manager, Susan, kept busy making masks, which proved to be popular. To date, she has made nearly 1,000 masks, all of which have sold out. Susan also kept the flowers looking awesome outside the store and even painted the floor in our workshop!!!!

The catalog department continued to work on the 2020-21 catalog. While we were a little behind, between limited work hours and delays in receiving products, we are pleased to report we will be distributing our newest edition on-time, scheduled to ship the second week of October.

It has been a crazy time, but we have all made some sacrifices, but are fortunate to have a wonderful, understanding staff. With the understanding of a great staff and a touching outpouring of support from our friends across North America and here in Lindsborg, we remain ready to serve our wonderful customers now and in the future.

A look ahead…

As we move forward, we have hired two new staff persons to manage and assist in the Catalog and Internet department. We are excited to have them both and believe you will enjoy your shopping experience with them. A detailed announcement will be forthcoming.

As I mentioned, look for our newest catalog in October. If you are not on our mailing list, complete the form on this link and we will make sure you receive your free copy.

We hope you stay healthy and safe and we look forward to assisting with your Scandinavian Tradition needs in the future.

Artist, Julie Holk burns the midnight oil on the late night shift during the shutdown.

Corey Peterson, Owner, sports Hemslöjd’s original Dala Horse with a mask t-shirt

Hemslojd’s large Dala horse is safe outside.

Gift Shop Manager, Susan Fry, stayed busy during the shutdown, applying her wonderful green thumb to the outside of the shop.

Susan not only has a green thumb, but also is a seamstress. What started out as a project to provide masks for the staff of the Hemslojd, turned out to be something much more. Susan has now made 1,000 masks for the friends of the Hemslojd. We are sold out as of now.

Local Grade School Principal, Eric Sjogren (son of Ken and Marilyn Sjogren, co-founders of Hemslöjd, Inc.) delivered hard to find supplies to local businesses. They were donated by the Parent organization at the school.