Elizabeth Brand September, 10, 2007

The Korea Village Mall on 150^th street and Northern Blvd was built about five years ago. It is a luxurious and an expensive mall that appears to sell expensive goods to well of Korean customers. One hint of this is sight of many expensive cars like a Mercedes Benz, Lexus, Cadallic, and others in the parking lot. It is really a beautiful mall with elegant surroundings . It is very lively with sitting areas that are furnished with very good furniture. The mall is decorated in the hallway with fine looking antique reproductions. All around the mall there are live natural plants, some with pretty flowers. In most places the mall is built of marble and the floors have soft, colorful carpets.

The mall has three levels. The first floor has mainly expensive stores, all of which carry famous, well known brands of merchandise. Examples of these stores are a jewelry store that has Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Bulgari and Salvatore Ferragamo purses and a Burberry of London counter. Another jewelry store," Zen Art" carries expensive diamond jewelry. One of the stores is unusual as it carries traditional Korean gowns that are similar to Japanses Kimonos. An old sewing machine is displayed in the window in this store and the gowns seem to be largely hand sewn. There are other stores, such as a very expensive formal dress store, a boutique, a store called "New York Fur" that has fur coats and dresses with fur collars, and a store that carries only knit wear dresses. Then there is a perfume store that carries all the world famous perfumes, and a store that has Korean Cosmetics. There is also a café called Koryodong on the first floor, that serves Korean baked pastries with coffee, or tea. There are small tables and chairs each separated by palm plants or columns which give a nice sense of privacy to the customers.

The basement has art and cultural center where different art activities take place. There is a big hall with a stage and a piano. The walls have paintings of contemporary artists, whose work is competitively selected. These paintings are on sale. Currently,the center has a program called “Project Diversity Queens”, where the artists whose work depicts multiculturism of various ethnic groups are encouraged, supported and exhibited. Young Children and adults learn karate, break dancing and music such as Jazz in this center. There is also a big travel agency and a beautician’s salon, which offers pure oxygen treatment and micro dermabrasion treatment.

The whole second floor is a restaurant called the Dae Dong Manor. It has three halls – Diamond Hall, Emerald Hall, and the Grand Ball room. The restaurant’s main course runs from $35 to $60 per person. The Diamond Hall is an everyday restaurant. The Emerald and Grand Ball rooms are used for seminars and conferences where food is also served. For example, on September 14, 07 there will be a presentation on Korean Zen Buddhism by a Buddhist preacher from Korea. These halls are also used as wedding halls and for other events as well. All the three halls are fancy and elaborate.

The Korea Village Mall is worth a visit. It has a pleasant and a cheerful environment and is a pleasant place to shop, view beautiful objects, and art works, and have a restful coffee brake.