10/11/2026
Something small hit us hard this weekend. It was an old cooler.
Two people visit us often. Husband doesn’t care much for our coffee, but is a great guy that we love to chat with. Wife is equally great and usually gets a cold coffee.
A couple of weeks ago they told us about a neighbor who was in the phase of life where you start thinking about where the things you love go when you are no longer there to love them.
In this case, that thing was a yellow Poly-Lite cooler made by the Coleman Company of Wichita, KS. Probably from the 70s. Harvest Gold. Pretty cool.
Can’t imagine how many tailgates, backyard birthday parties, halftime orange slices and trips up north it has seen. Probably many, and I’m sure it did its job faithfully every time it was asked.
That neighbor asked our customers if they’d be up for keeping the Coleman cold for the next leg of its journey. They weren’t sure they had a use for it, but as good neighbors do, they obliged.
To bring it back to Nordskov requires a little background on us.
In a different life working on big brands at big companies, we spent a whole lot of time on the concept of “brand positioning.” What does this microwave-ready breakfast sausage or American light l***r stand for that’s a little different than the one next to it on the shelf at the local mass-o-mart?
With Nordskov that work never felt quite right. This company (feels weird to even call it that) is an extension of us. If that “position” isn’t a good one, well… I guess we are in trouble. Never gave it much thought. Just did what felt right.
Yesterday those customers gave us their neighbor’s Harvest Gold Poly-Lite cooler.
The husband walked up from behind the tent and set the little plastic cooler into the bed of the Nordskov truck. The four of us stood there. Laughed. It felt right.
That feeling showed us something all those years of corporate marketing didn’t in a brand.
Not sure if you can call it a “position”, but we’re proud to be the type of place you can trust with an old thing that has a soul, and the type of people you’ll visit even if you don’t care for the coffee.
