Dom itp – European Houseware

I’ve only been to this store a few times, mostly when shopping at the grocery store next door. I’ve also visited the other locations but less frequently. What can I say, I’m not really impressed. Everything sold there is imported from Poland but looks made in China. The store itself tries to look like a WorldMarket kind of place. For those of you who have visited Poland in the recent years, most products look like those found in the Polish equivalent of a Dollar Store (ex Wszystko Za 5zl), except way more overpriced. But if you’re looking for a cheap ethnic gift, like mugs or shot glasses, you’ll find something.
I’ve usually only visited around holidays, like Christmas or Easter. i love colorful ornaments and of course, I stop by when I see them in the displays. Most Christmas ornaments are the typical Old World glass ornaments. However, they are super expensive. So are the Easter decorations. Honestly, very similar ornaments, also all handmade from Poland, are sold at Shon n’ Save during the holidays, all for way way less, most at $ 5 each. Rolling pins and cake pans? I can get those at Home Goods and pay half the price. The glass vases they have? They’re pretty and unique but alas, Home Goods always has a display of the same ones from Poland, for a fraction of the cost.
This all pretty to look at, giving the store 3 stars. I took away the one star for my recent experience though. I stopped by the Christmas Market at the Daly Plaza during my work break, only because it wasn’t very busy. I was surprised to see that Dom, itp had a booth, all filled with ornaments. They were all so ridiculously expensive (a tiny ornament for $ 34.99) but I guess I should’ve expected that, given the prices at all the other booths. There was only one more person at the booth browsing with me. The three girls working the booth, all Polish ladies in their 20s, were basically ignoring us. That’s fine with me though, I don’t like to be bothered by sales people while browsing anyways. However, they were having a rather loud conversation, in Polish, in which every other word was profanity. They probably assumed their customers didn’t speak the language or just plain didn’t care. I honestly didn’t know so much vulgarity can be put in one sentence, by women so young, as they didn’t look much younger than myself. That alone made me walk away, and to my surprise, two booths down was another ethnic Polish booth, where I bought some beautiful porcelain to give as a gift. So thanks Dom, itp but really, no thanks.

I called for a kitchen item I was looking for, of which I couldn’t find at Carson’s. And they had it, told me the size and the price. I could have gone to Wal-​Mart or Target, but I’ve been on a «local shop» trend, and found this shop on Unilocal for kitchen supplies.
A young lady greeted me in Polish, which I really liked because, it really makes me feel like I’m in a Polish community of Chicago. The lady I talked to was there, and walked me straight to the item. GREAT PRICE!
Had to return it, and was able to without any trouble!
Parking is the only thing that is tricky, but if you keep calm, you should be fine.

«Dzein dobry!» I was greeted when I walked in the door. Huh? It threw me off, so I replied, «Hello!»
In Polish, it means «good morning.» I only know a few words in Polish because I don’t have family who speaks the language, so what I know has faded. That explains my few seconds of delay.
Dom itp has a gorgeous selection of Christmas decorations and ornaments, all made in Poland. Some of it does get expensive, like the centerpieces with giant globe ornaments and garland, but I bought myself a large globe ornament with handpainted leaves for $ 12, and a smaller ornament of an owl wearing a Santa hat for $ 8.
There is a big wall of coffee mugs — can you find your name in Polish? I found mine pretty fast, Aniela. The designs on the mugs are limited with either delicate flowers or white and red flags bearing the giant eagle. I went with the flowers. I was so excited to find my name, as my mom recently told me that a long ago member of our family was named «Aniela,» so I thought it was cool that I have the same name. The mugs are only $ 5!
I didn’t browse the pots and pans or other kitchenware — those are the same in any language. There are some pretty accessories, but they’re a little more expensive than I was willing to spend. Same goes for the clothes — I was kind of feeling a black tunic with leather pockets, but for $ 125 I wasn’t even going to waste my time looking for my size.
The girls behind the counter speak Polish on auto-​pilot because most of their clientele speaks Polish. I often forget that, outside of the suburbs, European cultures still live in tiny enclaves in Chicago. The girl finally realized that I don’t speak Polish when she handed me my change and I replied, «Thank you.» She was unnecessarily apologetic for speaking to me in Polish, because I expected that she would.
The parking situation is nice, there’s a small parking lot, although mostly occupied by people shopping at the grocery store next door. We were able to find a spot right on Belmont though.

Word on the street is that DOM is the place to go if you want unique Christmas decorations, especially ones from Eastern Europe. Well, I went in the middle of Spring looking for nesting dolls. I couldn’t find any, but I spent $ 60 anyway.
I have Polish ancestry and have been searching for a store that sold all the types of Polski things you might find at Taste of Polonia (pisanki, nesting dolls, flags). At DOM, I bought a Polish flag, mugs with names in Polish (found my name!), a book of recipes and history called «Polish Chicago,» and a flag with Pope John Paul II’s picture.
However, I found lots of other pleasant surprises there, though I didn’t buy them. Baby clothes with phrases in Polish, wooden blocks with the Polish alphabet, a couple racks of modern dresses, a TON of vegan purses (non-​leather, and were labeled non-​vegan), bunches of pots and pans, aprons with phrases in Polish.
Basically, DOM carries a range of straight-​off-​the-​boat goodies from the corny to the fancy, all at reasonable prices.
I definitely will be back at Christmastime. I would love to have one, just one, beautiful ornament from the Old World!

I can’t stay away from the DOM stores at Christmas, though I usually go to the one on Harlem. Today, though, Jim wanted to try one of the other ones and I was happy about that because the Harlem store didn’t have nearly the selection it did last year, which was disappointing.
This particular store more than made up for it. It’s probably three times larger than the store on Harlem, and there were lots more Christmas things there. It was jammed with Polish shoppers who all seemed to know one another, and the sales ladies, but that didn’t stop the sales staff from being incredibly helpful and kind. No fewer than four of the gals on the floor helped me with my stuff, but not in an overbearing or suspicious way. They were just genuinely nice, and very pleasant.
I bought a new ornament — seriously they have some of the most beautiful ones I’ve ever seen, some at staggeringly low prices (some rather high, too. There’s an ikon I want but it’s just under $ 100. I’m going to have to stick to the ones under $ 10.) I also scored four pretty, sparkly pink tealight holders for $ 1 each and gave two to Glinda who has as much magpie blood as I do. And I bought up a lot of sparkly botanicals to make a bright, lush, vivid holiday arrangement. My total was a bit higher than I wanted to go, but the result is dazzling. I can hardly wait to start decorating for Xmas!
I would happily review the rest of the store, but honestly I am so overwhelmed with the spirit of sparkle that I can’t think about most of their other stuff. I now know which of the DOM stores I’ll be taking my friend, Karen, to when she comes in to shop. Highly recommended.

As a cook, my favorite stores are the small, out of the way places that stock esoteric and strange kitchen objects. Forget Williams-​Sonoma and Sur La Table and their shiny Francis! Francis! espresso makers. I’m talking lidded jars for pickling and fermenting, strange grinders for sausages, and special and usual bottles.
The specialty wares at Dom ITP are lovely, but it is the kitchen goods that set it apart. I went to their Hardware/​Garden outlet (about a mile down the street from the fancy housewares shop) and picked up a lidded ceramic crock that will work wonders for my home fermentation. I grabbed 6 perfectly proportioned shot glasses while I was there — the shape and size were unique and quite pleasing, and it was cheap (about a dollar a glass).
Technically the Hardware/​Kitchenware is another store (though part of their dynasty), some of the things carried here can be found in this particular outlet. The hardware store, however, is a hardware store — along with interesting kitchen implements, you’ll find light bulbs and wire.

This store is a gem. It carries most of the same pieces that chains like Saks, Neiman’s and Crate and Barrel due at a quarter of the price. Furthermore, the owners hand pick all of the glass and home décor when traveling to Europe themselves, so there are hundreds of unique pieces to choose from. In the winter, they carry exclusively designed Chicago themed ornaments with handpainted images of the Chicago flad, Chicago scenes, Chicago neighborhoods, Wrigley Field, U.S. Cellular Field, etc… They make the perfect gifts, as they are also half the cost of ornaments at department stores. I believe they also sell their gorgeous collection of ornaments downtown every winter at the Christkind Christmas Market in Daley Plaza.