Established in 1990 by Jan Krynski, Dom itp started out as a Chicago neighborhood hardware store under the name Polski Hardware Inc. Jan, an immigrant from Poland, began traveling back to Poland after communism fell and was astounded at the outstanding quality and reasonable prices of many Polish handmade products such as glass, porcelain and ornaments. Jan began to import these products to his stores, hence changing the nature of his hardware business to a thriving house ware business.
By 2002, the demand for these products was so great that Jan opened up two more stores with his wife Grazyna in Northwest Chicago, and began importing more varieties of the finest Polish handmade products. Now, Dom itp has expanded into a family run business with five retail stores and a warehouse in the Chicago area. Their specialists seek out the most beautiful and unique handmade ornaments all over Europe, primarily from Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, France, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Portugal and Italy.
The ornaments found at Dom itp are all designed, manufactured, and licensed specifically for the company by their team of designers in Europe. The ornaments are hand-blown and hand decorated by specialized artisans in Poland. Although Krynski says that his favorite ornaments are the Chicago landmark ornaments , his inventory includes beautiful Faberge ornaments, Santa ornaments, and lovely figurines as well as very reasonably priced ornament sets.
Typically schooled in the art of glass blowing from a very young age, the European artisans associated with Dom itp spend years going through a vigorous apprenticeship before they can become skilled glass blowers. These artisans use time-honored glass ornament blowing techniques passed down for generations. After the glass is created, the Dom itp artists painstakingly decorate each and every ornament with beautiful and unique results each time.
In addition to being found online and in five Chicago stores, the unique ornaments are also sold during the world famous Christkindlmarket in Chicago every year. This festive event draws more than a million visitors each year, and features some of the world’s finest ornaments. The traditional German holiday market will be open in Chicago this year from November 23 – December 24 and if you are in the area, you don’t want to miss it. Set up to resemble a European village at Christmas, the annual event is heavenly bliss for the ornament collector with vendor stalls for everything you dream of for Christmas. Be sure to stop by the Domitp booth and pick up a Chicago souvenir ornament.
Article and images used with permission from domitp.com
