A Very Cozy Evening!

Left to right, Jerry Jones, Raija Hilska, Trygve Ringereide, Hilde Huus, and Angie MacCrae with a few items from Koti 28 (photo by Marian McLennan)

Raija Hilska and Jerry Jones’ gracious offer to host our April speaker event at their home added so much to our April Speaker Event! Angie MacCrae, owner of Koti 28, the Nordic- inspired store in Arnprior, commented that just walking up to the front door took her back to the two years she spent teaching kindergarten in an English school in Finland. It was indeed a most inviting entranceway leading into a warm and very Nordic interior.

I grew up in Arnprior in the days when the shopping experience was quite limited. I remember strolling up and down the Five and Dime store looking mostly in vain for cheap treasures. I was very curious to learn how Angie’s elegant store full of beautiful Nordic-style objects for the home (Koti means home in Finnish), came to be.

Angie told us about her years travelling around the world before settling down back in Canada, first as a teacher and finally as the principal of the local high school. She had particularly enjoyed her time in Finland, with its strong cultural connection to nature. Just a couple of months after her retirement, starting from scratch and with virtually no experience working in retail, she opened Koti 28. The store sells items from the Nordic countries and elsewhere, including a number of Canadian lines, and they all reflect the Nordic love of simple, natural design.

Her audience had many questions for Angie about her time in Finland, and her experiences as an educator and as an entrepreneur. It turned out to be a very pleasant and relaxed evening in a lovely setting. “A home is not a house, it’s a feeling” Angie noted, and the feeling at Raija and Jerry’s home was one of Nordic coziness! Many thanks to Raija and Jerry for their warm hospitality!