Explore Freba Pottery: Saskatchewan’s honour-system shop on Hwy 16

WYNYARD, SASK. —  Next time you’re driving along Highway 16 in Saskatchewan, with the open sky stretching out in every direction, a sign might catch your eye.

The sign simply reads “POTTERY,” with an arrow pointing toward a farmyard. If you turn off the highway and pull in, you might be surprised by what you’ll find.

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Freba Pottery sits just off Highway 16, where passersby can stop in to browse Olafson’s ever-changing selection of handmade pottery. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)

At the farmyard just off Highway 16 near Wynyard, you’ll find a small building filled with handmade pottery — mugs, bowls and cups resting on shelves with simple price tags attached.

There’s no staff, no cash register, no cameras and no fuss.

Listen to the story on Behind the Headlines:

The store runs on the honour system. Customers take what they want, and leave their payment.

This is Freba Pottery, the creation of Marea Olafson, a wheel-throwing potter whose deep connection to clay and community has transformed a quiet patch of prairie into a destination for travellers from around the world.

You never know what treasures you’ll find at Freba Pottery. Olafson regularly restocks her roadside store with handmade creations. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)

Olafson’s pottery journey began back in 2003, when a trip to Denman Island in British Columbia sparked a passion for the craft.

“I visited every pottery studio there, probably two or three times in a week, and fell in love. I knew I had to learn it,” she recalled. “It was a pivotal moment. I knew I was going to learn how to do pottery and I haven’t turned back.”

Inspired by an honour-system store she had discovered on the island, Olafson wondered if the same idea could work on the prairies.

When she and her family settled beside the busy Saskatchewan highway in 2013, the idea resurfaced.

“There’s so much traffic going by on Highway 16… I thought, ‘Why not?’” she recalled. “Let’s see if it can work here.”

She and her husband built the little store by the road — a quiet invitation to anyone curious enough to stop.

Olafson and her husband built the roadside store themselves using salvaged wood from an old barn on their property. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)

The honour-system pottery shop might seem like a strange setup, but Olafson says it works.

“You walk into the store, you shop, you write in the book what you want to purchase,” she explained. “You can either leave cash, a check, e-transfer, or you can scan a QR code to pay by credit card. There’s paper and bags to wrap up your purchase.”

During the winter months, she said the store sees about 10 customers per day. But during the summer, that number is tripled.

Even with thousands of visitors passing through over more than a decade, Olafson said she’s has never had an issue with theft or dishonesty.

“I just trust that people will do it,” she said. “And people have. Sometimes an e-transfer messes up, but they always catch it. I joke that organized crime is still too busy with pot; they haven’t gotten into pottery yet. But when they do, mine will be traded on the black market.”

At Freba Pottery, visitors note their purchases and pay by cash, e-transfer, or credit card. Olafson says that in more than a decade of running the self-serve shop, she’s never had an issue with theft or dishonesty. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)

Still, for Olafson, it’s not just about the pottery — it’s about the people.

Maps hang in the shop, speckled with colourful pins placed by visitors from around the globe.

“People from all over the world are just driving through Saskatchewan,” she said with a smile. “Australia, Bangladesh, Iceland, Singapore… Last summer, I had a fellow from the Philippines come!”

People from around the world have stopped at Freba Pottery. Olafson said she loves seeing new pins added to the maps that adorn the walls of her pottery shop. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)

As the shop has grown, so has Olafson’s vision. In 2023 she launched Elemental Claycation — an immersive weekend pottery retreat in her family’s heritage home.

“I didn’t realize I was a tourism destination,” she said. “Then all of a sudden it was like, ‘OK, I’m now full-time!’”

What began as a roadside experiment became a calling.

Customers from far and wide have left notes for Olafson during their stop ins at the roadside pottery shop. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)

“I get to connect through creativity in all of my experiences,” she said, gently adjusting a coffee cup on the shelf of her store. “I just have the best job.”

Freba Pottery isn’t just a place to buy a mug or bowl. It’s a place where art, honesty and human connection come together, one handmade piece at a time.

Olafson has plans to add onto her business. She hopes to build a pottery studio behind the honour-system store. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)