New store offers buyers European housewares

While visiting the Christkindlmarkt last week in Daley Plaza, I stumbled upon a booth for a new store in Prospect Heights.

Dom itp offers an eclectic and unique selection of housewares from all over Europe, including hand-carved candles, hand-blown and painted Christmas ornaments, stemware, teddy bears, hand-blown glass vases, platters and much more.

Items come primarily from Poland, but there are also Danish housewares, Swedish teddy bears and candles from Switzerland and France.

It opened its doors on the southeast corner of Camp McDonald and Route 83 in early November.

This is the fifth Dom itp store opened by the mother-daughter team of Grace and Kasia Krynski, and the first in the Northwest suburbs. There are three stores in Chicago, including Lincoln Park, Harwood Heights and now Prospect Heights.

"We decided to open a store in Prospect Heights because most of our clients at the other stores come from Eastern Europe and there are so many Eastern Europeans in the Mount Prospect and Prospect Heights area," Grace Krynski said.

But, she added, they have been surprised by the number of non-Eastern European clients the Prospect Heights store has already attracted -- people who simply appreciate the beauty of the items they offer.

Incidentally, I have already made two trips to the new store, coming home with gorgeous Chicago-themed Christmas tree ornaments for gifts and lovely candles for my own home. It is definitely worth the trip.

Fundraising penguins: Remember how kids once adopted Cabbage Patch kids and the stores couldn't keep them on their shelves?

That is what Bob Dooley and Bill Reddy, owners of Millie's Hallmark and Neat 'N Cool Gifts, are hoping will happen with their stock of Ty Admiral penguins, which are now available for adoption (purchase).

All proceeds from the sale of the penguins are being donated to the Mount Prospect Emergency Food Pantry, which is administered by the Human Services Department of the village.

The penguins come in two sizes -- 6 inches and 18 inches -- and sell for $10 and $30, respectively, according to Reddy.

Each penguin even comes with a stamped adoption certificate signed by the "adoption workers."

So far the penguins are being adopted at a furious pace. About $600 was raised for the food pantry in the first week, Reddy said.

All of the money raised will be used to purchase Aldi's gift certificates for perishables like milk and cheese, which needy families will require for their holiday dinners. Depending upon the size of the family, Reddy said, they will receive gift cards ranging from $30 to $50.

"The more penguins we sell, the more families we can help," he said.

The penguins are available in both stores, 1024 S. Elmhurst Road and 113 W. Central Road. In fact, they grace the window displays of both stores.

Musical plows: Just like everyone else in town, I was disappointed when the miserable weather last weekend forced the cancellation of the annual Winter Parade.

But the smile was back on my face later Saturday night when we encountered a trio of plows salting Central Road. All three were lit up with Christmas lights and decorated with metallic garland and festive signs, and one of them was blasting Christmas carols from its loudspeaker.