Kortni Merckling shops with her children Gemma, 11, and Rhett, 7, at the Wooden Spoon Scandinavian store in Plano, Texas, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. The store has gotten heightened attention with the World Cup matches.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
PLANO – On a columned white house across from city hall, between the American and Texas flags, waves a third: the red, white and blue of Norway.
Behind the front door, rows of bright-colored gummies wait to be scooped and a garland of blue and yellow Swedish flags hangs on the wooden stair banister. A small cloth soccer pitch holds a few foam balls.
Every boxed sweet and painted toy in the Wooden Spoon comes from Scandinavia — the only thing American is the customers. The beloved specialty store has always been warm and welcoming, but the shop received a breath of unexpected life when Sweden and Norway were among the World Cup teams selected to play in Dallas.
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The food and gift shop in one of Plano’s oldest homes, called the Forman House and built in 1867, might normally get just four customers in a day in the summer months, said Ann-Marie Gustafsson, the store’s director. But for the past few weeks, dozens have walked through the door on a given day. Sales are up, rivaling their busy holiday season.
“We’ve been very busy,” she said. “We are really grateful for all of this.”
Related: Plano leaders head to Sweden to strengthen economic ties with northern Europe
Weeks before the Swedish team arrived in Frisco, using Toyota Stadium as their base camp, they placed an order from the Wooden Spoon for Swedish sausage, herring, candy, caviar in a tube and Swedish coffee, which Gustafsson said is stronger and smoother than typical American coffee.
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“That’s why they’re playing so good,” Gustafsson said. “Swedish people, we drink a lot of coffee.”
Sweden beat Tunisia, lost to the Netherlands and played to a draw with Japan before falling 3-0 to France on June 30 in New Jersey, eliminating the team from the tournament.
Since the defeat, she said the store has had more Norwegian fans visiting, the final remaining Nordic country in the cup.
Wooden Spoon Scandinavian store in Plano, Texas, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. The store has gotten heightened attention with the World Cup matches.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
The Swedish team’s order came out of the blue, Gustafsson said, and the team told her they found the store online. She placed a special order from Sweden for some of the items they were seeking and said they bought “a good amount.”
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The team reordered coffee during their stay, and Gustafsson delivered it personally to Frisco. She did not meet the team but spoke, in Swedish, to a coach and to striker Viktor Gyökeres’s family when they visited the store.
Their spike in business has been a mix of locals and tourists, Gustafsson said, including from Sweden. She’ll chat in Swedish with visitors from her home country, and tell them her story and about North Texas.
Related: Swedish fans celebrate at friendly ahead of World Cup match against Japan
Gustafsson came to Dallas-Fort Worth because of her husband’s work with Ericsson, a Swedish telecommunications company, nearly three decades ago. She has split time living in the U.S. and Sweden.
Gustafsson visited the Wooden Spoon shortly after moving to the area, where she met former owner Gwen Workman, who died last year. After learning she was Swedish, Workman offered Gustafsson a job at the store, where she’s worked on and off for nearly three decades.
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Helene Honeybone, Honorary Consul for Sweden in Dallas, said the store is “an icon” for Swedes in North Texas, a “gathering place.” Her kids attended a Swedish language school at the store, she said.
Dallas has a Swedish population of more than 5,500, according to a 2025 report by the Neilsberg research firm, and Plano is home to more than 2,400. Dallas has the third-largest Swedish population of any city in the state, and Plano the sixth.
Wooden Spoon Scandinavian store in Plano, Texas, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. The store has gotten heightened attention with the World Cup matches.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
North Texas is home to several Scandinavian firms, with Ericsson and Assa Abloy’s North American headquarters both in Plano. The city’s government officials visited Sweden last year to foster relationships with businesses in Scandinavia.
The Wooden Spoon sells goods from across Scandinavia. Its shelves are filled with Norwegian, Danish and Swedish flags, toys, gifts, Finnish and Icelandic goods, Swedish candy and a welcoming coffee bar. A small soccer goal is set up by the door and snacks in neat rows are decorated with soccer balls. Everything in the store comes straight from Scandinavia, Gustafsson said.
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“I’m so proud to be Swedish, that they are here,” Gustafsson said.
Kortni Merckling and her children live in Sachse near Plano and visited the store on a weekday morning. Merckling’s husband traveled to Sweden recently and brought home jerseys. The family followed the team through the World Cup and attended their match against Japan at Dallas Stadium.
Ann-Marie Gustafsson, a director at the Wooden Spoon Scandinavian store talks to a customer, in Plano, Texas, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. The store has gotten heightened attention with the World Cup matches.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
The World Cup has brought the family a summer of memorable enjoyment.
“It’s made every day exciting,” Merckling said. “It’s on in the house all day long.”
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While the Wooden Spoon has had visitors from all over the world in recent weeks, it’s also gotten closer to its own community.
“With the World Cup happening here, it’s really put some of those Swedish businesses here on the map for the Americans living in D-FW,” Honeybone said. “To be able to just share Swedish culture … that’s just been really an amazing experience.”
Email tips on all things Collin County to lilly.kersh@dallasnews.com.