My parents-in-law ran a smalltown department store for close to 40 years before having to close down last year. These photos document the Kragseth family’s final days as merchants in Nordfjordeid, Norway.
The combined toys and glass- and kitchenware store known as “Kala” would have celebrated its 40th anniversary on the fifth of November last year. Only they had to close down just half a year shy of that landmark occasion. A combination of age, health and economic issues meant that the days leading up to Easter last year were chosen to be the final ones for the store that had been built by my girlfriend’s parents – Mrs. Aud and Mr. Agnar Kragseth – four decades earlier.

Kala #3. Mrs. Aud (left) and Mr. Agnar Kragseth had some of their busiest days ever during the days of the final sale. My girlfriend Linda (centre) moved home for a few weeks to help them out

Kala #4. Aud and Agnar met at a gathering for western expats in the Norwegian capital of Oslo in the early 1970s

Kala #10. The shop – and its merchants – in their youth. Aud at left, her sister-in-law, Liv, at right
Epilogue – The Bears Say Goodbye
The toy store teddybear mascots make one final appearance for a farewell ad in the local paper.