When Anita Endresen moved from Norway to Seattle at the age of 19 in search of adventure, she got a job working under Reidar Olsen at Johnson’s, an imported-foods store serving Ballard’s tight-knit Scandinavian fishing community.

Einar Johnson founded Johnson’s in 1960, but once he sold the business to Olsen, it stayed in the family. Reidar’s son Erik took over the store when Reidar retired, renaming it Olsen’s Scandinavian Foods. When Anita’s sister, Reidun, also immigrated to Seattle, Anita secured her a position at Olsen’s. And in 1997, when Erik Olsen decided to leave the lutefisk-import business, Anita and Reidun bought Olsen’s from him.

The sisters share the same age as the store, and all have aged beautifully. A cheery light yellow, Olsen’s is so clean and neatly arranged that you’d almost believe you’d been teleported to Oslo. Nose around the shelves, and you’ll find all the standards—lingonberry preserves, dozens of kinds of rye crispbread, six different “uff da” mugs. It’s mecca for anyone who eats sardines by the tin.

The Endresen sisters stock the freezers with their split-pea stew, and they use all of the Olsens’ recipes to cure rulle polse (lamb roll), smoke cod, and pickle herring in a sweet, spice-riddled brine. Ballard’s second- and third-generation Swedes and Norwegians may have moved away, but every Christmas they return to the neighborhood—some driving for hours—to pick up pinnekjott (salted, dried lamb ribs) to braise the way Grandma did.

The neighborhood has changed, but Anita doesn’t see gentrification as a bad thing. “A few years back, Ballard was dying out,” she says. “Now it’s blooming again, which makes it interesting for Scandinavian folks to come down here.”

Change has forced innovation, too. As their customer base moved away or died off, Olsen’s struggled to stay open—until two years ago, when Anita and Reidun set up an online store. It saved their business: The Endresens now ship their imported foods and house-made pickled herring to Scandinavians all over the United States, and the sisters spend all November and December packing boxes.

Though you still hear a fair bit of Swedish and Norwegian in the store, new Ballard residents have embraced Olsen’s, too. Anita says, “We tell them, come and try some fish cakes, they’re good for you.” Needless to say, the licorice sells much better.—Jonathan Kauffman2248 N.W. Market St., 206-783-8288, www.scandinavianfoods.net.