Our local shopping adventure: Kellogg, MN and Stockholm, WI

Tucked in among the southeastern Minnesota bluffs, Lark Toys has 20,000 square feet of whimsical, imaginative Willy Wonka-type fun.  Pogo sticks, lollipops, a carousel, llamas wandering the grounds and beautiful wood toys everywhere.  We made a promise to stop at Lark on the way to Stockholm to please the young one. I think it was the old one, my husband, who had the most fun.

The glasses and hats are surprisingly irresistible.

This is harder than it looks.

The owners of Lark wandered around chatting with customers.  They were very friendly and talked with us while we played with the llamas. The Lark Toys website describes their store philosophy as one of dedication to "our community, our economy and our society for a family-owned and operated business where people do what they love and love what they do". I like everything about that statement.

And we spent just over $100.00 so we got a free Lark t-shirt.      Photo: larktoys.com

We crossed back over the river and cruised up along the Great River Road to Stockholm, WI.
Stockholm is an adorable little town with really friendly people, all 66 of them. The first store we came to, June and Me, had a little fluffy dog running around greeting everyone. It was Juno!  The store was a nice gift shop that also had some fancy dog toys and dog treats.  The owner was such a dog lover he kept talking to Mike about Hamlet and the treats he might like.  And they had these really cute Stockholm sweatshirts.

We were getting hungry and determined to eat pie at The Stockholm Pie Co.  This place had really good homemade soup as well. The owner came up and asked how our food was and the wait staff was friendly and accommodating. The chocolate pie was sinful.  I was so full when I was eating it but I couldn't stop myself.

The store I really wanted to go to was Sandy's. We had stopped in Stockholm in the early Fall and Sandy's was closed so I only got to peak in the window. But I was sure I would find a Christmas gift for my friend here.  She had a lot of one-of-a-kind jewelry, bags and clothing.  There were some really cute sweaters, shirts and cashmere scarves I was coveting. It didn't take me long to find what I wanted.  I chatted with Sandy...because that's what you do in Stockholm, you talk to the person who owns the store where you're shopping and they tell you about the products.  So Sandy sent me across the street to look at more of the designer's products that I liked. I had to drag myself out of there and I'd only made it to 4 stores in all. Guess we'll have to go back. 

Sandy's         

Pic from Sandy's Clothing and Art facebook page

 Thank you Lark Toys and Stockholm.  You are a constant reminder of the value of independent stores and the sheer fun of unique, quirky and friendly retail.