Nordby Shopping Day

Like most Americans, we can only last for so long without going to the mall. Yesterday, we decided to check out our local mall: Nordby Shopping Center.

Since it is located on the edge of town, it took us two bus rides to get there. We left the house at 7:45am, ate breakfast in Strömstad, and made it to the mall just as it was opening at 10am.

International symbol for "I need to pee"?

In many ways, it was just like an American shopping mall: big free parking outside, a McDonald's in the parking lot, a variety of shops inside, a food court, and a kid's play area.

But there were lots of fun differences.

Who knows what strange things you might find?!

First, we noticed mostly Norwegian license plates on the parked cars. We're close to the border with Norway, where food and alcohol are more expensive, so this is a popular place for Norwegians to stock up. There were shopping carts in the parking lot for people to push their stacks of sodas and kilos of candy around the mall.

They had these instead of escalators,
so you can bring your shopping cart upstairs.

Our first stop felt like a cross between a Walmart and IKEA. It had everything, like a Walmart, but was more stylish and Swedish, like an IKEA. The prices were crazy cheap. We almost bought a $10 Swedish waffle maker.

Next stop was like a Swedish version of Costco. It was very much like our local grocery store, only with vastly larger quantities and choices. The pallets of sodas, piles of pastries, and aisles reaching up to the ceiling reminded me of extreme shopping at home. This is all for the Norwegians, who buy in bulk and cross back over the border with their bounty.

The kids play area was called Djungelland (Jungle Land). We had a fun time purposely mispronouncing it, "Don't get lost in De JungleLand!" It looked like Funbelievable from back home: a massive, indoor playspace with slides, climbing structures, and places for parents to sit and chill. I snapped pictures of all the signs and rules, to try to decipher later, so we might try it out on future trip.

The most shockingly different thing was the number and size of the candy stores. At home, a typical mall might have one little candy store. Or maybe a free-standing cart, with bins where kids can choose some bulk candy.

So. Much. Candy.

This mall had three massive candy stores. Each one larger than anything I've ever seen at home. The largest one was so big, it was hard to wrap my head around it.

We found the Swedish Swedish Fish. They're called Strawberry Fish.

Here's the kind the Swedes like: Licorice Fish.  Ew.

And it wasn't just for kids. Mostly, it was adults filling up bags and bags of candy. The largest store had six double-sided rows of bulk candy. You fill up a bag and pay by weight, about a $4 per pound.

Think they were excited about this?

In addition to the bulk candy bins, the outer edges of the store were lined with every type of bagged and boxed candy you can imagine.

Enough Haribo to last you through the apocalypse.

This, again, is mostly for the Norwegians, who come here to buy candy cheaper than they could get it in Norway. That explains why there's so many stores and why they're so gigantic.

The never-ending candy!

It doesn't explain why they eat so much candy! Apparently, Swedes eat the most candy in the world. They even have a special tradition on Saturdays called Lördagsgodis (literally 'Saturday's Candies') where you go to the candy store, buy a bunch of candy, and eat it.

I found at least 3 different types of mushroom candy.

We have noticed that there is more candy in the grocery stores than we are used to (a whole aisle just for chocolate bars!) and every store seems to have a bulk candy section. But this took it to a whole new level.

We were all exhausted after our mega-shopping day. And of course, we brought home a waffle iron.

It makes heart-shaped waffles. Because Sweden.

They are adorable AND delicious.

We're gearing up for our new favorite holiday: Waffle Day!