Northern Lights Gift Shop reflects Kelly's love of nature, community, and faith

Northern Lights Gift Shop is the newest shop on the iconic York Street in Stratford.

About half a decade after the Gospel Lighthouse closed, the Northern Lights Gift Shop will be providing what some residents were missing.

Northern Lights Gift Shop opened on Nov. 7 at 51 York St. in Stratford. The shop will sell greeting cards, nature gifts, books, kids products and second-hand Christian literature, CDs and books. Owner Ann Kelly worked in Christian bookstores for about 32 years, starting with the Carpenter Shop, then the Gospel Lighthouse.

Kelly said  the Christian bookstore aspect will be a part of the Northern Lights Gift Shop. After the Gospel Lighthouse closed in 2019, she would run into residents who missed the store.

“People would see me,” Kelly said, “and go, 'Oh, we miss the Christian bookstore. I wish somebody would open one,' and I would go, 'Yeah, I wish somebody would open one, too.' "

Kelly was planning on leaving the retail sector and, instead, go on mission trips to Northern Ontario to support Indigenous communities in the area. She said the trips will likely happen eventually, but the opportunity to open The Northern Lights Gift Shop came to her in May 2024. Kelly added that she wanted to provide bibles for those who are looking for them.

“Buying a bible is something really important to people who want to read it,” she said. “They want to see inside. They want to hold it."

The Northern Lights Gift Shop will also have a lounge for coffee, tea and packaged snacks such as cookies, muffins, chips and chocolate bars, as well as socializing.

Kelly’s love of nature and growing up in a house near the woods drove the desire to put nature-inspired gifts such as mugs, plaques, pillows and pictures into her shop. Kelly is also a wildlife painter and had her painted rocks sold at Treasures before the store closed.

"I know a lot of people just love nature,” she said.  “Just going for a walk restores you and gets you grounded in a crazy old world. Just get out of the city for a while and it helps your perspective and boosts your morale and everything.”

The Northern Lights Gift Shop started as Northern Lights Outreach. Kelly had a dream about the Northern Lights and in that dream, she excitedly told people about the Northern Lights. Then she realized it was more important for her to talk about the creator of the Northern Lights.

“Part of me just wants people to know that there is a creator who loves them,” Kelly said. “Everyone, and I mean everyone, is created in the image of God and he just wants them to know him and have a relationship with them.

“That’s my heart. I don't push anything on anybody, but I can let them know what I believe in and that it changed my life for the better and the Bible is a good book. I pick it up and read it just for the fun of it and I challenge people to just open it anywhere. Ask God 'what do you want me to read today?’ "

Kelly said the Northern Lights Gift Shop might have a special Friday shopping event before December.