Press Release - New Huntington Store Set to Dazzle When it Opens Jan. 14, 2015

The Huntington Store, anchor of the north section of the new Steven S. Koblik Education and Visitor Center at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, will open to the public on Jan. 14, 2015.

Press Preview of the Huntington Store and the rest of the new Education and Visitor Center: Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.

SAN MARINO, Calif.—The Huntington Store, anchor of the north section of the new Steven S. Koblik Education and Visitor Center at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, will open to the public on Jan. 14, 2015. Sure to dazzle shoppers, the store’s displays will brim over with a spectacular selection of gifts and books, apparel, toys, and home decor relating to The Huntington’s vast library, art, and botanical collections. Twice the size of its predecessor at 5,000 square feet, the store highlights items that are luxurious, whimsical, beautiful, and unique in an airy central space with a vaulted sky-lit ceiling surrounded by eight thematic rooms.

The store is part of the new visitor center's front section, which opens on Jan. 14 to showcase a new coffee shop and full-service admissions and membership area as well. The rest of the complex will open in April and will feature a 400-seat auditorium, a large café with indoor/outdoor seating and garden views, four multi-use classrooms, meeting and event spaces, and an orientation gallery—all arranged amid six and a half acres of new gardens.

What’s Inside
Upon entering the Huntington Store, visitors will be greeted in the spacious central area by dynamic seasonal displays. Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day will inspire the first arrangement, with Chinese home decor and an eclectic mix of romantic gifts. This mix includes Shakespeare’s sonnets on mugs and jewelry as well as unusual gifts with early illustrations of the human heart and skeletons “in love” inspired by The Huntington’s history of science collections.

Wrapping paper with illustrations of mushrooms, butterflies, and other ephemera; classical stone garden statuary; and botanically themed ceramics like handmade “Seedpod Bowls” and “Foxglove Goblets” will lure garden enthusiasts to one of the rooms.

In another room, high-end objects relating to The Huntington’s Asian gardens beckon, with exquisite handmade jewelry, Chinese porcelain, lanterns, and unique gifts such as handcrafted Japanese ikebana flower vases in fine wood boxes.

An extraordinary chandelier of porcelain teacups can be found in an alcove focused on the genteel rituals of afternoon tea (a favorite tradition in The Huntington’s Rose Garden Tea Room), along with tea sets reminiscent of the priceless collection of Sèvres porcelain on view in the Huntington Art Gallery as well as those based on famous children’s storybooks.