In late February, I was diagnosed with mouth cancer. Because of this we had to close our downtown location for five weeks. In that time I had surgery to remove the lesion and I start radiation treatment April 15th.
Given my prognosis looks good, Tracy and I thought we could reopen downtown in a limited way. Our news hours going forward will be Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 7 AM to 2 PM starting today.
Thank you for understanding about our absence and now the reduced hours.
Chris and Tracy
For years our hot chocolate packaging has been virtually the same. This year we look a bit different due to supply chain and pricing issues. We took the opportunity to match the bow colors to the kinds of hot chocolates. And given the extra inch tall we have included one of our house made marshmallows to the top of the can. A sweet treat to celebrate change.
I am sad to say, we are going to have to close the factory space and drive-thru once again. We have been trying to hire a few people to replace Brin and Erin when they go back to college. They leave next week and we have failed. It’s been wonderful to have people around as I make chocolate, chocolates and other treats. You can be sure that we will re-open the factory when we find the talent to run it.
Blessings to all of the students in the new school year.
Peace and good health, Tracy
I knew I have been taking a break from updates for awhile but January was my last update!?!?!
I have a big update, we have reopened the factory! Right now it is only for the summer. We’ve been able to open Monday to Friday, 7am to noon because Brin and Erin are home this summer before they head to college. If you know someone who wants to work 6:30am to 12:30pm weekdays, we will be able to stay open.
I’m so happy to be sharing the space again.
Peace and good health, Tracy
It’s red hat season! In Mount Horeb we celebrate winter with a festival on Super Bowl weekend. The red hat symbolizes the mythical wee- people of Scandinavian countries. They are called Nissa or Tomte, depending on the country. The tomte (in Sweden) shape shift to help with chores, protect animals and watch over children. They have also been known to help in other ways, if you have a really good relationship with them. Tomte appreciate if you put out a small bowl of porridge for them to eat and/or a small wooden structure for them to hang out in. In this way you show them that you welcome their presence and their help. In Mount Horeb, we also wear the red hat to encourage our wee-people to come out and celebrate the season. Who knows, when in Mount Horeb you might be standing next to a person wearing a red hat or you may be standing next to a mythical being who has been able to shape shift to hide in the crowd?
Over the years, I and a couple of other people have sewed thousands of the red hats. Red hat sales help to fund our winter festival. I sell them at Sjölinds for $10 a hat. They come in four sizes, from baby to big heads.
Scandihoovian Festival takes place this year from Febuary 9 thru the 11. To check for events go to trollway.com. We hope you come to celebrate with us.
Peace and good health, Tracy
Snowed in! Chris and I live just outside of Mount Horeb in the township of Springdale. Chris had us shoveled out at 2 A.M. this morning and we were all ready to start the baking and shoveling the store sidewalks. Now it’s nearly 9 A.M. and we still haven’t seen a snowplow. I guess the township doesn’t have a plow out the bakers first policy. We are sorry to have disappointed anyone who is able to make it out of their driveway today.
Hopefully we will all find a way to make this a cozy day.
Peace, good health and stay safe, Tracy.
We are taking a winter break! We will be open until 2pm everyday, including Christmas Eve day. When we close at 2pm Christmas Eve day we will remain closed until Tuesday, January 2. Happy Winter Everyone!
We are in the 18th year of Sjolinds. When Chris and I started this business we had a son that had just turned 21, two teenage daughters and a toddler son. The youngest son will be graduating from college this spring and Chris and I a feeling the need to make some changes.
When we first started Sjolinds we focused our efforts on bakery, hot chocolates, coffee and a few chocolate treats. The chocolate treats part of our business grew faster than we ever thought possible and we found ourselves needing a separate place for our production. That is when we had the 150 Lillehammer Lane building built.
We now realize that to continue to serve our very special treats, bakery and drinks we need to once again reorganize to improve the business and maintain our joy. We will be building a bakery out at the 150 Lillehammer store and selling the 219 E. Main Street location. Until then we will be operating as normal.
Before Sjolinds, Chris and I had never owned our own business. We never knew that there are so many evolutionary steps to growing a business. This has been a wild ride. Thank you for all the kindness and support you have shown us and our family. We look forward to continuing to share this journey with you.
Peace and good health, Tracy