Laura Scriven is moving from South Korea to Chelsea and will open Culture Creations this summer in Global Marketplace’s former space on Main St. She says the gift shop will feature “imports with a conscience.”
“What else do you do when you’re fifty but move back to your hometown?” Scriven laughs, as she calls via Skype from her home southwest of Seoul.
After college, Scriven went to work as a teacher in South Korea, “because you can do anything for one year, right?” She fell in love with the country and culture and stayed, but returned to the States each summer. Now, with her parents aging, she says “it’s time” to move back home.
She’s sold items online for years that she discovered during her travels, but making the leap to a storefront is “Kevin’s fault,” she jokes. Kevin Frahm, the longtime owner of Global Marketplace, encouraged her to take over his space after his retirement.
There’ll be “something in every price point,” she says, including wooden puzzles in animal shapes and embroidered silk dresses and pillowcases from Vietnam; handmade stainless-steel cutlery from Thailand; pottery from an artist friend made using the traditional methods of 1,500 years ago; and “the best” Vietnamese coffee. She plans to travel abroad in January and February each year to restock her inventory; she says her next trip will be to South America or North Africa.
A soft opening is planned for the end of July, with a grand opening in August.
Culture Creations, 105 S. Main, Chelsea. (734) 274-2225. Planned opening late July; hours TBA. culturecreationsgifts.com
