Annie An was born in South Korea, but has called Eureka Springs home for the past 37 years. The lively, petite woman initially owned several restaurants in the area including the Bamboo Garden Restaurant on US 62, and restaurants in Mountain Home and Harrison. For the past 19 years, she has operated Annie’s Boutique in downtown Eureka Springs in the New Orleans Hotel.
Annie said she has loved being in retail, and has received great support from locals and tourists, but the avid outdoorswoman is retiring and closing up shop by the end of the year. She plans to have more time for paddleboarding, hiking and bicycling, in addition to traveling the world.
“I’ve always liked to travel,” Annie said. “That is why I’m not so rich. I’m traveling all the time. I go everywhere. I travel to lots of parts of Europe and Asia, and all over the states. I visit my family in South Korea and have a home in Indonesia. I want to go to New Zealand, Korea, Indonesia, and Greece, all the different islands. It is time to enjoy life now instead of waiting until I’m old.”
Eureka’s fashionista has been traveling twice a year to a trade show in Las Vegas to buy clothing and accessories for her boutique. Now she is working to reduce her inventory and discounting more deeply as the end of the year approaches.
Annie has a sense of style all her own and is often the best advertisement for the clothing she has to sell. But she is also known for honesty, maybe sometimes even a bit of bluntness.
“If something doesn’t look good on someone, I tell them,” Annie says. “When people come to my store, I can tell what kind of style they are. I’m always honest. If they don’t look good, I tell them. I have to. Sometimes people get offended, but I don’t want them to go home and say, ‘Oh, that looks awful.’ When they like what I suggest, they keep coming back.”
The customers are what she will miss the most. She has developed friendships with many of them.
“Most of all, I enjoy people,” Annie said. “People will come in and bring me a bottle of wine from a trip to Greece. I’m going to miss them so much. As soon as people found out I’m closing, they are coming in three or four times. The local people are also really supporting me. I have a good mix of tourists and locals.”
Annie said she will also really miss her downtown merchants, who have been like a family. But she plans to return to visit them regularly.
Annie initially came to the U.S. after meeting and marrying an Arkansan in South Korea. He was attending the College of the Ozarks. Annie tried attending the college for a while but found it too difficult to do the work because of her lack of English skills.
“My English was terrible,” she said. “I tried to learn, but the language was hard.”
The couple moved to Lafayette, La., while her husband was getting his Masters degree and then they moved to Harrison where she opened a restaurant.
The marriage didn’t last, but Annie’s deep affection for Arkansas continued.
“I love Eureka Springs,” Annie said. “Everyone asks me if I’m going to move somewhere else to retire. This is my home. I don’t want to go anywhere else. My family wants me to go to back to South Korea. When I visit my family, they ask me if I’m doing a drug, I’m so laid back. No, this is Eureka life. I will stay. I love it here. We are all going to have fun all together.”
Annie is the only girl in a family with six brothers – all successful, hardworking businessmen who are very protective of their sister.
While no longer in the restaurant trade, Annie is known for making killer kimchi, a spicy fermented cabbage dish. After retirement, she plans to offer a kimchi class in her home “so everyone can learn how to make something that is good for you. I love food. I think what you eat is what you are. I try to eat healthy and I like feeding other people. Especially when they are sick, I will go out of my way to bring them food.”
Even while working a heavy schedule at the boutique, Annie has been vigilant about exercise. She usually rides a bicycle from her home to Beaver Dam each morning, and after work goes to Beaver Lake to do standup paddleboarding and watch the sunset. She kayaked regularly for years before discovering paddleboard four years ago.
While she is one of the few Asians in town, Annie has never felt an outcast. She is part of the fabric of the town.
When she first came to Eureka, she was a little perplexed by the laid-back attitude many have towards showing up to work regular hours.
“Now I would be that way,” she said. “I’m open when I want to be open.”
In addition to traveling, Annie plans to enjoy being home and invite friends over more often.
“When I’m not working, I can enjoy my home more,” Annie said. “Before I was working all the time. I like my home.”