Young Swede Buys Village Store After Unemployment, Finds New Life

In 2024, around six percent of young people aged 15-24 in Sweden were without any form of employment, according to Eurostat, and Henry Ekman was one of them. The couple Siv and Anders Söderlund had tried to sell their village store for several years, placing an advertisement on Blocket where buyers backed out twice in a row. Henry Ekman responded to the third advertisement, and there was initial confusion when he contacted the Söderlunds because they thought he was from Forsmark near Tärnaby, but he clarified he was from Forsmark in Uppland where the nuclear power plant is located.

Henry Ekman saw pictures of the store and had several phone calls with the Söderlunds. In February last year, Henry Ekman packed his bag and bought a one-way ticket for the night train to travel 60 miles north to Örträsk, which he visited for the first time a year ago. He had never taken a night train or seen so much snow.

For the first few months, he lived with the Söderlunds, and he learned everything from planning purchases to bookkeeping from day one. Since July 1 last year, Henry Ekman has been the sole owner of the store, buying it with money he saved himself and invested in securities. At ten o'clock, Siv Söderlund goes to open the store, with the first customers including preschool teacher David Henriksson and Eva Larsson with her daughter-in-law Polina Larsson and children Oskar and Katarina.

Henry Ekman greets customers and knows most of them by first name, and he asks curiously about the bread that Eva Larsson placed on the conveyor belt, a new item in the store's range.