The General Store

2013 · 53 min · Documentary

The small shop Verzlun H. Júlíusson in the town of Sauðárkrókur located in North Iceland. is not just a small grocery store but so much more. It is the last one of its kind in Iceland. Everyone entering the shop travels decades back in time. The 83 years old shopkeeper Bjarni Haraldsson sells a little bit of everything but hasn’t changed much in the store that was opened by his father in 1919. Most of the furniture in use dates back half a century as well as the old scales. One can buy everything from tea pots to packet soup, working pants and hinges to batteries, screws, and lollipops. Bjarni still serves customers, day by day. He chats a little bit with them and eventually goes hunting for something they might need.

Directed by Árni Gunnarsson · Written by Stefán Friðrik Friðriksson