Week 44 – One Year – One Island
September 21st
I was sitting right in the middle of the main road on Öland, painting a scene that has probably never been captured artistically before: the grocery store in Köpingsvik. The idea came to me as I thought about what exactly is important to us who live on Öland — because if you want to describe what’s special about this island (in my case, with brush and paint), you have to show the everyday life that shapes us locals too. Öland cannot be reduced only to its historic windmills, lighthouses, rune stones, old churches, or Iron Age ruins. Nor is it enough to show only nature — the limestone heath, the ”Raukarna”, the sandy beaches, the migrating birds, the rich wildlife from stag beetles to long-legged frogs, or the orchids. What about the craftsmen, the farmers, the sheep, the hunters, the artists…? There are countless things that make Öland the very special island we love so much.
Then it struck me that, besides doctors, firefighters, elderly caregivers, and teachers, there’s one particular profession that is absolutely essential for us to live well here: the grocer. Without our 13–14 grocery stores, nobody could live here.
One of these 14, the one in Södra Möckleby, is an “automatic store.” Until June this year it was called AutoMat (a mix of AUTOnomous and mat, which means “food” in Swedish). Now it’s called Handlar’n (“The Shopkeeper”) and is run by a local village initiative. You can shop there around the clock. There’s no cashier, no clerk in sight. You identify yourself at the door with your personal ID number, and the store is monitored by cameras. At a self-checkout, you scan your items and pay by card or phone — then simply take your goods and leave. Back in 2016, the ICA grocery store in Södra Möckleby had closed permanently, and people had to drive far just to buy food. So in 2020, a group of engaged citizens started AutoMat, and it’s been running ever since.
Another curiosity among the 14 stores is the ICA supermarket in Böda. It sits in a small shopping strip in the middle of Sweden’s largest campsite, Böda Sand. It’s relatively large and well stocked but only opens when the campsite is open. The remaining 12 stores are spread across the island and range from tiny to huge.
The challenges for these store owners are much greater than for grocery stores in cities or in non-tourist rural areas. In the winter, about 27,000 people, spread across the whole island, depend on them for daily necessities. In summer, however, between 500,000 and 2 million people visit Öland. (Exact numbers are hard to find, since tourism statistics count overnight stays rather than individual visitors.)
I did a little math for fun and found that, on average:
each store serves about 1,921 people in the winter half of the year, but
the same store has to manage 36,000 to 145,000 customers in the summer half.
That’s an incredible achievement — in logistics, in estimating the right quantities to order, in making investments and taking financial risks, in adjusting staff numbers, parking spaces, opening hours… Honestly, how do they do it? I’m full of admiration.
The grocery store where I usually shop always has fresh fruit and vegetables, a wide variety of (perishable) meats and cold cuts, cheese, dairy products, many refrigerated and frozen items, freshly baked rolls every day, and even toilet paper, laundry detergent, cut flowers and potted plants, diapers and magazines, sweets and Asian food — basically everything you might need. They even have the most common over-the-counter medicines like cough syrup, plasters, nasal spray, and lice treatment. You can buy lottery tickets, daily newspapers, and even a few current paperback books. Oh, and since this year, there are three EV charging stations in the parking lot. But that’s not all — yes, I know, I’m getting carried away!
In the winter months, you can order pizza on Fridays and Saturdays, freshly baked in the store’s own pizza oven. You can choose from about ten toppings, call in your order, say when you want to pick it up, and pay at the counter. And I have to say — the pizza is better than some I’ve been served in real pizzerias.
For two years, our ICA grocer also offered a self-service salad bar (though it wasn’t as popular as the pizza). Apparently it wasn’t worth it, so it’s gone now. But at least he tried.
On Thursdays, you can see two employees with shoppinglists busily pushing carts through the aisles. At the unmanned second checkout, bags pile up with customer names attached. These are the groceries for seniors who can’t leave their homes. Mobile caregivers take their orders on Wednesdays, bring them to the ICA store, and pick up the filled bags on Thursday to deliver them. And not only in winter — also in summer, when the number of seniors includes tourists who move into their holiday homes for a few weeks and are also entitled to home care. There are about 1,300 holiday homes on our island, by the way.
But our grocery stores aren’t just vital for keeping us supplied — they serve another very important purpose: they are social meeting places. Since fewer people go to church, religious gatherings have decreased drastically. In Böda, there are now only weddings, funerals, and one Christmas Eve service. In other nearby churches within 50 km, you can only occasionally meet someone you know. That’s why the grocery store is so important. In winter, it’s practically the only place (besides the library) where you can run into someone spontaneously. The grocers know about this social function and make space for every possible reason to chat.
For example, if you are a senior over 65 years old, you would prefer to come on Thusdays, as you will get 10% off on everything (senior discount), which also means you will meet most of the senior neigbours that day during the week.
On December 13th — Lucia Day — the female employees wear silver tinsel crowns, and one former staff member, Niclas, always went all in! He used to dress up completely as a “Stjärngosse” (Lucias star boy), sitting behind the checkout in a long white gown and a pointed paper hat. At a small folding table with benches — between the lottery counter and the freezer — our ICA grocer serves glögg (non-alcoholic mulled wine), ginger cookies and saffron buns called “Lussekatten”. Christmas music plays on repeat. Amazingly many people come that day, sit down for a chat, and see which neighbors show up.
Small events like that — quiz days, kindergarten visits, and so on — are only organized in winter, because in summer there’s no time (and no need). During the touristseason locals are just happy if they can quickly grab what they need, get lucky with a short line at the checkout, and escape the chaos of families calling down the aisles:
“Leif, can you grab the grill sauce from over there? Oh, and check if they have vegan mayo, yeah honey?”
So, this painting today is my personal tribute to all the hardworking grocers who make life on Öland not only possible but also comfortable and pleasant. Thank you!
P.S. I was lucky — one lane in front of the store was closed, so I could sit there without blocking traffic. Since I was there a week before the big harvest festival ”Skördefest”, you can see the traditional dekoration: a hay bale with the orange pumpkin in front of the entrance. And next week there’ll be a very special painting — right from the nightly happenings in Borgholm. I hope you’ll join me again!
Until then
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