Britain’s first Moomin Shop opened its doors on Wednesday in London, Covent Garden, just in time for Christmas.

Moomin is the popular fictional character, created in the 1930s by Tove Jansson (1914-2001),  from which books, comic strips, TV programmes, a theme park as well as countless peripheral products have all been developed.  Oy Moomin Characters Ltd monitors the intellectual property rights of the moomins.  Its creative director is Sophia Jansson, Tove Jansson’s niece. The shop is a collaboration between Sophia Jansson and Patrick Haddad, owner of DesignShop UK in Edinburgh. Haddad decided to open the shop after a successful exhibition in his Scottish store during the Edinburgh festival called "And the World Went mad for Moomins".

The new moomin shop was opened by the Finnish ambassador Pekka Huhtaniemi and Sophia Jansson, Creative Director of Oy Moomin Characters Ltd.  The shop’s selection includes lots of different moomin products such as toys, books, stationary, accessories, clothing as well as kitchen and bathroom articles.

The new shop magically recreates Moomin Valley, where the famous Finnish cartoon is set. Walking through Moomin Forest and Moomin Cave, visitors will then enter the heart of the store – Moomin Valley. Here, books, toys and merchandise are displayed in little blue Moomin "houses".

The store is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 8pm and Sundays from 11am to 5pm.

www.moomin.com

www.coventgardenlondonuk.com