"General stores" in Korea usually refer to shops that carry a wide variety of miscellaneous goods, often literally whatever the owner wishes to sell, typically located in a small town. And for that, you may easily lose track of time after you walk into these venues. In the past two years or so, lots of new general stores have made its introduction, but unfortunately, most of them seem to sell similar products mostly imported from mainland China. For all those that are tired of these factory made props and looking for a one-of-a-kind general store, Linnea’s Garden might be the answer.
Just as I was about to get really tired of “general store-crawl,” Linnea’s Garden came to me and took my heart with every single one of its unique and rare little things. Each and every piece seems like it has its own story, and the warm ambiance of the store instantly melts your cold city-soul as if you’re deep in the woods visiting a little friendly witch’s secret house.
Quietly hidden in the back alley of Mangwon Dong, Linnea’s Garden is full of all kinds of cute little items; placemats, coasters, forks, teacups, snowballs, finger puppets, ornaments, etc. Linnea’s selection is unique and rather intriguing—it may have you wonder,“How did he/she get this? From where?” The answer is "all over the world"—through the owner’s acquaintances living in France, Japan, Tibet, China, Taiwan. With the selection, you can obviously tell the owner’s love for witches, animals, and glass pieces. The enormous broomsticks that can be found at the corners of the store clearly do not serve a cleaning purpose; they definitely suit better for Harry Potter’s Quidditch games. Also a various collection of witch figurines including the Moomin series, Alicia of the Bullet Witch, young witch Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service and many more that will mesmerize your eyes. If you're at all into fortune telling, look through the delicate and crystal clear snowball—it might speak your future to you! The glass plates with hand-printed paintings are mainly imported from France through friends, and only a couple plates each time. Some have been already stopped production in its local country, so it is only your imagination how limited and valuable they are.