Sheena Poh — Bring­ing Joy to Oulu, One Unique Trea­sure at a Time

When you walk into Salainen Sekatavarakaup­pa Söpö, a cozy and vibrant store nest­ed into the heart of Oulu, it’s like step­ping into a joy­ful mem­o­ry. The shelves brim with whim­si­cal toys, quirky sta­tionery, rare col­lectibles, and heart­warm­ing sur­pris­es you won’t find in main­stream stores. Behind it all is Sheena Poh, a spir­it­ed entre­pre­neur from Sin­ga­pore with a mis­sion: to cre­ate a space where chil­dren, teenagers, fam­i­lies, and any­one pass­ing by can find joy, hap­pi­ness, and a sense of belong­ing.

From Sin­ga­pore to the North

Sheena arrived in Oulu almost 8 years ago through per­son­al ties. Hav­ing lived in Sin­ga­pore, Aus­tralia, the Unit­ed States, and now Fin­land, she has expe­ri­enced life in four con­ti­nents. Although she didn’t know much about Oulu before mov­ing, this city full of nature, peace, and per­son­al space quick­ly became a place she embraced as home.

“I didn’t real­ly explore Oulu before com­ing here,” she recalls. “Every­one knows Helsin­ki, but Oulu? That was new to me. What I found was a slow­er, fam­i­ly-friend­ly pace of life and gen­uine­ly kind peo­ple. I knew this was the right place to start some­thing mean­ing­ful.”

A Store Root­ed in Hap­pi­ness and Nos­tal­gia

Salainen Sekatavarakaup­pa Söpö – the store was born from a sim­ple yet heart­felt idea: to recre­ate the joy and won­der Sheena expe­ri­enced as a child. “Every­thing in my shop is some­thing I loved grow­ing up,” she says. “I want­ed the kids and even the adults here to expe­ri­ence that same mag­ic.”

But beyond the prod­ucts, Sheena’s shop has become a sanc­tu­ary — a place where chil­dren can hang out, feel safe, and be them­selves. “Some kids come in just to chat. I’ve become like a ‘shop mom’ to them.” Sheena laughs. “I ask about school, lis­ten to their sto­ries. It means a lot to me, and I think it means some­thing to them too.”

Chal­lenges and Change

While Oulu offers much, Sheena’s jour­ney wasn’t with­out sur­pris­es. The bank­ing sys­tem with its lim­it­ed hours was unex­pect­ed for her. Also, mak­ing friends proved to be chal­leng­ing in the begin­ning. But her busi­ness became a bridge to con­nec­tion. She is no lon­er put off by the famous­ly reserved Finnish demeanor. “Peo­ple may look seri­ous, but they’re kind and hon­est. The grannies that come to my store might look stern at first, but once we start com­mu­ni­cat­ing — even just with ges­tures — they’re incred­i­bly warm.” She quipped.

The long win­ters also took some get­ting used to. Her advice to deal with win­ter? “Lay­er up, invest in a good down jack­et, shoes with trac­tion, and always leave the house with a full phone bat­tery!”

Explor­ing the Restau­rants

“I’m a food­ie,” Sheena laughs. “I love explor­ing restau­rants, com­par­ing dish­es, and try­ing some­thing new. If I go to a place more than once, you know it’s good. If I go three times? That’s a place worth check­ing out!”

Among her favorites are ‘Kaup­puri 5’ for burg­ers with crispy fries, ‘Friends & Brgrs’ in Valkea, ‘Troi­ja’ for kebabs, and ‘Mario’s’ — the old­est pizze­ria in town. “Good food is impor­tant to me, espe­cial­ly after liv­ing in so many places. I don’t eat just any­where — I eat where the food makes me hap­py.”

Look­ing Ahead

Sheena hopes her busi­ness becomes a mod­el of excel­lent cus­tomer ser­vice and heart­warm­ing experiences in Oulu. “Shop­ping should be more than just click­ing a but­ton. I want to bring back that joy of walk­ing into a store and feel­ing seen.”

With dreams of expand­ing to oth­er cities and inspir­ing more women to start their own busi­ness­es, Sheena is just get­ting start­ed. “I want peo­ple — espe­cial­ly women — to take that leap of faith, try some­thing new, and do what makes them hap­py.”

A Word for the New­com­ers

For Sheena, Oulu’s strength lies in its peo­ple. “They may seem reserved at first, but they’re incred­i­bly warm and help­ful once you get to know them,” she shares. “And for fam­i­lies, this is an amaz­ing place to raise chil­dren. It’s peace­ful, it’s close to nature, and it gives you time to actu­al­ly live.”

If you’re a new­com­er to Oulu, Sheena’s sto­ry is a reminder that with a bit of courage and heart, it’s pos­si­ble to cre­ate some­thing tru­ly spe­cial — even in the most unex­pect­ed places.