Being born and raised in Sweden, there are some traditions have stuck with me even after two decades as an expat.  For example, I celebrate Christmas on December 24^th, I prefer my pancakes to be thin (like crepes) and I believe soccer is the true football.

I also love IKEA!  That big blue and yellow box is like a little piece of home.  I can pronounce the names of all of the furniture and I only swear in Swedish while putting together my Billy bookcase.  Going to IKEA Tempe is a family outing these days. We start with some (Swedish) pancakes in the restaurant, we push our wobbly cart through the market place to find the perfect cheese slicer and then we pick up our giant, flat boxes and plan the rest of our day around assembling our new furniture.

But now IKEA offers a sweet reward after you have managed your big, heavy cart through the check out.  Candy!  And it’s not just any candy at IKEA, it’s lördagsgodis, one of my favorite Swedish traditions.  Lördagsgodis translates in to “Saturday candy” and it was the highlight of my week as a kid.  On Saturdays, we would go to the candy store, which had lots of bins filled with every kind of candy you could imagine.  Sour, sweet, chocolatey, fruity and most important of all – the salty licorice!  We would fill our bags up and then savor each piece while watching a movie on the rented VCR box.  Did I just date myself a little bit here?

I have fond memories of my childhood Saturdays and now I can re-create these moments with my own children.  IKEA Tempe has opened up a brand new candy store as part of their food market and the bins are filled with the same delicious treats I remember as a kid – including the salty licorice.  My kids loved getting to pick out their favorites and a few pieces for Mom ended up in our bag as well.  The food market has always been my favorite part of going to IKEA; it offers a piece of home.  The new candy store is a truly tasty addition.  Be sure to stop in next time you’re shopping for furniture!  After all, putting together furniture is hard work – don’t you deserve a sweet reward?

Now, the VCR box may have been replaced by Netflix but the candy is still sweet and Saturday nights are still the best part of my week. For more information about Tempe shopping, visit our website or call 480-894-8158.