A Swedish Affair (Sweden’s Finest)

A Swedish Affair has been bringing a piece of Scandinavia to Fort Myers since 1984, when Yvonne, who grew up in Stockholm, and her husband Richard, a former schoolteacher from Indiana, opened a small storefront in Royal Palm Square built around wood handicrafts and crystal from Kosta Boda. The two met in Sweden in 1981, a trip Richard took after developing a fascination with the country through Swedish colleagues he met at Munters, a Swedish company, after moving to Florida in 1969. What started as a shared interest turned into a business the couple has now run together, as a family enterprise, for more than four decades.

Since that first shop opened, the inventory has grown well past its original crystal and handicrafts focus. Regular buying trips to Sweden over the years brought in Orrefors crystal, Danish paper cutouts, Scandinavian cookbooks, jewelry, and the Christmas items the store has become known for locally, especially its wooden Dala horses and Swedish gnomes, or tomtar, that fill the shelves each holiday season. The shop also carries Swedish and Scandinavian pantry items, imported candy, cellulose dish cloths, linens, and table runners, along with newer additions like Woodstock wind chimes and Solmate socks. In the 1990s the business expanded online, and it now ships both the physical storefront’s inventory and web orders nationwide and internationally, operating under the name Sweden’s Finest.

The physical shop relocated as of January 1, 2025, moving from its longtime Royal Palm Square location to a new spot at 13451 McGregor Blvd, Suite 13. It is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Sundays. Prices are approachable for a specialty import shop, with everyday items like dish cloths starting under five dollars and holiday pieces such as carved Santa sets running up toward sixty dollars, so it is easy to browse without feeling pressured toward a big purchase.

What makes the shop worth a visit is less about any single item and more about the depth of a genuinely focused inventory. Most gift shops in Southwest Florida carry a scattershot mix of coastal decor and souvenirs. A Swedish Affair has spent forty years building relationships with Swedish workshops and importers, and it shows in the range of authentic goods on the shelves, from fine crystal down to everyday kitchen textiles. For anyone with Scandinavian roots, or anyone shopping for a Christmas gift that will not show up in the seasonal aisle at a big box store, it is one of the more specific and long-running retail concepts in the Fort Myers area.

The store can be reached at 239-275-8004 or by email at orders@swedensfinest.com, and keeps an active presence on Facebook and YouTube for customers who want a preview of what is currently in stock before making the trip out to McGregor Boulevard.