A young couple, Lærke Heegaard and Matias Tolstrup, have taken over the community-owned grocery store on the small South Funen island of Lyø. They have now completed their first summer high season as island grocers.
DR reports that the couple had never set foot on Lyø a year ago. They had not visited the South Funen Archipelago at all. Lyø is now their home, and they lease Lyø Købmandsgaard, the island’s grocery store.
Neither had worked as a grocer before, according to DR. Heegaard says the move meant changing both their jobs, moving their son to a new day care, and taking on a new home, a new region and new neighbors. She describes the first high season as intense.
DR describes Lyø as having roughly 100 residents. Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality’s relocation page states that the island has around 80 permanent residents. The same municipal page, aimed at people considering moving to the area, notes that the shop is open year round and sells fresh bread in the mornings.
Ulla Jeppesen, treasurer of Lyø Købmandsforening, helped hire the new couple. She tells DR that the association interviewed several candidates, but finding the right people was difficult. Applicants had to be able to thrive on the island and get along with the islanders, she says.
Before the couple arrived, members of the association ran the store themselves. Jeppesen says they did not dare close it, because customers would then get used to shopping in Faaborg on the mainland. She calls the outcome jackpot for the community.
Two years of uncertainty
DR reported in February 2025 that Lyø residents had been covering shifts in the store themselves for five months, while the island looked for a permanent grocer. The store is owned collectively. According to Lyø Købmandsforening’s own website, residents can join the association and pay an annual fee to support the shop.
Rasmus Andersen, chairman of the residents’ association, calls the store essential for settlement and tourism. He tells DR the island receives perhaps 50,000 tourists, all of whom need somewhere to buy something. The local information site lyø.dk puts the figure at about 60,000 visitors a year.
Andersen adds that people might choose not to live on Lyø if they had to travel to Faaborg for all their shopping. He says the number of residents is currently moving in the right direction. Lyø is reached by ferry from Faaborg, a crossing of just over half an hour.
In their first season, Heegaard and Tolstrup added more organic goods and sourdough products to the range. Heegaard says the biggest change for her is having a role in the community. Customers come in for milk and medicine, but also to share sorrows and joys, she says.
The couple have further plans for next year. Heegaard says they expect to still be on Lyø in five to ten years. Whether they remain grocers, or give more space to their crafts, is not yet settled, she says.
