One of my very good friends I visited while in New York, Kendra, introduced me to this hidden jem in Soho. It literally is hidden. There’s a crooked sign on the street leading you up some dark and grafittied stairs, around another dark corner to a door. If I didn’t trust Kendra completely, I would have been very skeptical.

It’s called Kiosk. And it is my new favorite store (update: just found out that they actually have a small selection of things online too here). The shop is divided up by countries. They literally travel around the world and find the most beautiful and useful little items to bring back and sell. The design is impeccable and they are all small and cheap enough that you won’t be able to take home just one. Plus they each have a little story typed up about where they found it, the history of its use in that country. The story is on display and it’s also attached to your item when you purchase it (how considerate!).

A few things I picked up that I photographed above are:
Portable bubbles from Denmark. (Duh! Perfect for moms of young kids!)
Tiny stencils from Mexico that fit in your wallet. (I’ll never be bored at the DMV again)
A trumpet kazoo from Canada. (Shhh! Hank’s getting it for his 3rd bday next month!)
The prettiest brass paperclips from Sweeden.

(Excuse the bad cell phone pic)
I could have spent all day there reading the little descriptions and trying to decide how to not buy the whole store. There was one story about these wooden spoons from Denmark (or was it Sweeden?). How they kept on finding them in secondhand stores everywhere there and then found out that in Denmark all kids are required to make a little wooden spoon in elementary school woodshop (cuuuute!). So they collected some replicas (not the ones made by children). Anyway, each story is so sweet. Definitely hit up Kiosk next time you’re visiting Manhattan. I know I’ll be back!
They’re located:
95 Spring Street
(between Broadway & Mercer St)
New York, NY 10012