From Los Angeles to Luleå – “That feeling I had in Brändön was something I missed from my childhood”
Gloria Verechtchaguina made the move with her children and partner from Stockholm to Brändön, near Luleå. She now runs a waffle café and second-hand shop here all year round, while also working at a government agency.
– It’s just about the right distance from Brändön to the city. Everyone’s so hospitable and welcoming, and it’s also cosy and beautiful here, she says.
Gloria Verechtchaguina was born in Moscow, and at the age of eight she moved to Stockholm, where she grew up. The next move, in 2007, took her to Los Angeles.
– I lived there for ten years, studied music and enjoyed the warmth of LA. But then I decided to take a course in Stockholm, before moving back to LA permanently.”
But that never happened. Instead, she met her current partner and together they ended up in the small community of Brändön in northern Sweden.
– I fell in love with the place and suggested that we move here, she says.
It all started when she headed up north with her partner one hot summer. They went out into the archipelago and lived a really simple life, squeezed into a tiny cottage with an outdoor toilet.
– I’ve always wanted to live that kind of simple life. I had a camper that we drove up from Stockholm to Luleå, an eventful trip in itself, and we planned to sleep in it. That’s when I really got to know Luleå.
The family didn’t just look at Luleå, but considered various options, cottages and all kinds of other possibilities. Gloria wanted a renovation project, but her partner did not, as he’d had enough of renovating. When a childhood friend of his decided to sell his house in Brändön, they were offered the opportunity to buy it, and they took the plunge.
– That feeling I had in Brändön was something I missed from my childhood. Everyone knows everyone else, and you can spontaneously drop by and knock on the door.
Her two older children, one of them a teenager, are also happy to be living out in the countryside.
– They have a good time and are really happy. They just love being out in nature. We have neighbours with horses that they visit as well, says Gloria, emphasising that people in Brändön are extremely open and friendly:
– Everyone’s been really welcoming, and the café’s opened doors to creating relationships with new people.
For many years, Gloria had been tempted by the notion of running her own business. But she’d been waiting for the right opportunity to come along, until now, and she jumped at the chance.
– The mission house was empty, and at first I hesitated. Who’d want to go there, to a village outside the city? I wanted to give it a go, even if I ran at a loss. I was prepared to take the risk.
In February 2023, she opened “Brändö våffleri och second hand”, just a couple of months after they had arrived in Brändön and she was on parental leave with her third child.
– To my amazement, it’s going well! Since we opened, we’ve had lots of visitors, which feels just great. We hold musical events once a month and sell all kinds of things in the shop, but mostly clothes. I’m interested in clothes, I designed and sewed my own when I lived in LA, she says.
Text och foto: Maria Ekman