I'm an American who shopped at Hagkaup, the 'Walmart of Iceland.' Here are 5 surprising things I've never seen in US stores.

The store was located inside the Smáralind shopping center in Kópavogur.

Once I followed the orange arrows through the gate, the only way I could exit was through the checkout counters.

I encountered similar one-way gates at grocery stores in Scotland, but I haven't seen them in US shops.

In 2020, Iceland was the fourth-largest producer of salmon in Europe at 34,000 tons, according to Statistics Iceland. The expansive section of fresh and smoked Arctic salmon felt unique to Iceland, since most salmon I see at stores like Trader Joe's in the US comes from Alaska.

I loved how family-friendly the offering was for busy parents running errands.

I haven't encountered a similar stand in American grocery stores. Some select locations of chain supermarkets — such as some ShopRite stores in New Jersey and New York, ABC7 reported in 2018 — have rolled them out in the past, but I have never seen them during my own shopping trips.

In my experience living in the US, craft supplies are mostly sold in specialty stores like Michaels or Joann Fabrics. I was surprised to find shelves of colorful alpaca yarn, beads, ribbon, drawing tools, and other items.

At Nammiland, located in the back corner of Hagkaup, customers could take a paper bag and scoop out gummies, chocolates, sour belts, and other candies from giant bins. With its size and variety of options, it easily could have been its own establishment.