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Krzysztof, Maggie & Emily

In honor of Small Business Saturday, we wanted to give everyone a behind the scenes look at our small family business - Stone Creek Trading. 

Stone Creek Trading is run by myself, Emily and my husband Krzysztof, with a lot of "help" from our almost 4 year old daughter - Maggie.  We take care of everything here in the United States from researching new products, unloading shipments, and packing orders to customer service and managing the website.  We work closely with Kryz's father, Jacek, who takes care of things for us in Poland. 

Jacek and Kryz unloading an early shipment

Jacek works directly with the small businesses in Poland that create the products we sell.  He will often visit these companies in person to see their operations and meet the people who make the goods we offer.  He then helps to coordinate the shipments and make sure we are getting what our customers want.  Jacek also visits us occasionally in the States and helps out with unloading and packing orders.

Maggie is always looking for ways to help us as well.  She likes to be right in the middle of things, no matter what we are doing.  While making a recent batch of sauerkraut, she decided she needed to check the water in the rim on our fermenting crock.   

She is more helpful in some aspects of the business than others.  Her personal favorite was helping us test the first set of DABO blocks that we received this summer.  She isn't quite so excited about helping us pack orders.  So we set up a little area for her among the boxes to play.  She also thinks the maze of cardboard is a great place to play hide and go seek.

Emily, Maggie and Kryz at a French Market this summer

As we say in our About Us section, Maggie was the main reason we decided to start this business.  In our previous careers, we were spending far too much time away from her everyday.  It felt like we were living to work, instead of working to live.  Our family is our top priority, and with the number of hours we used to spend apart, our daily lives just weren't reflecting that. Now, with Stone Creek Trading, we've found a way to make our business a part of our family.

When we say that Stone Creek Trading is a small family business, we really mean it!  It's not just about the people who run it, it's about our whole philosophy.  When you support Stone Creek Trading, you also support our family and for that we are truly thankful. 

Today, in honor of Small Business Saturday, and to say thank you for supporting our small business we are offering a free starburst fruit bowl with every order over $20.  Enter "Small Business Saturday" in the Additional Comments box on the Shopping Cart Page and we will include the fruit bowl with your order (this way you can still use another discount code if you have one!).  This offer is good on all orders placed between now and midnight on Saturday, November 30, 2013. 

You can also show your support of our business by liking our Facebook Page and sharing it with your friends!

Thank you again for supporting our small family business and we hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the story behind Stone Creek Trading!

Have you liked our Facebook page yet?  We just announced our first Facebook giveaway, so be sure to head over and like our page. 

One of our fans will win a wood mushroom nutcracker, but it can't be you unless you go like us right now!

It's that time of year when we all crave comfort food from a warm oven.  As the holidays approach, we begin to plan meals with family and friends.  As you as you dream of all the delicious food you will make, you also take stock of your kitchenware.  In honor of the season, we are happy to announce our Stock up on Stoneware Sale!

Our stoneware pieces are perfect for this time of year.  An all natural alternative to non-stick metal bakeware, our stoneware is all made in Europe - designed & manufactured in Poland by Boleslawiec.  Similar to cast iron, these stoneware casseroles are all oven, microwave and dishwasher safe. 

We offer a variety of shapes and sizes, from a Loaf Pan to a 1 1/2 quart Casserole with Lid.  Our stoneware comes in two contemporary, natural colors - sand and bronze.  This sale won't last long, so be sure to check out the entire collection to see which item your kitchen needs!

Did you receive our first Stone Creek Trading Newsletter yesterday?  If not, be sure to sign up on our home page.  You'll find the newsletter sign-up form in the lower right hand corner of the page. 

Our newsletter is a great way for us to keep in touch with our customers.  In this newsletter we featured many of our new products as well as our popular items which we have recently restocked.  We also shared about a few upcoming holiday market dates in the Chicago area.  And of course, we provided a special discount code exclusively for our newsletter subscribers!

Does this sound like something you'd like to receive?  Head on over the the home page to sign up so you don't miss out the next time we send a newsletter.  And don't worry about missing out on this one, we'll send this issue out again to any new subscribers next week!

As many of you have probably noticed, we are once again out of stock of the 10L Fermenting Crocks.  If you've been following along, you know that we ran out of stock at the end of September.  However, we received a shipment in the beginning of October which included all of our new holiday items and blocks sets, as well as more 10L fermenting crocks.  We decided to open up these crocks for "presale" one week before the shipment arrived so that our customers could take advantage of our Harvest Time sale.  The response was overwhelming, and before the new shipment even arrived, we were once again sold out.

ED 11/13/13 - We are now also out of stock of the 5L crocks.  We have more 5L's coming on the same shipment and will be available at the same time as the 10L crocks.  It looks like we will have the 5 & 10 liter crocks available around November 21.  

ED 11/26/13 - The shipment has been delayed in customs.  We expect to have the crocks ready to ship the week of December 9.  Both 5 & 10 liters will be posted for presale soon.

Because we import all of our products directly from Poland, it takes us 4-6 weeks to get new products after we place an order.  We have to contact the manufacturer, they make the products and then deliver them to the the shipping company we use in Poland.  Once they arrive at the shipping company, they have to be packaged on pallets and driven to the port in Germany.  In Germany, our pallets are loaded onto a ship which will make it's way to Quebec.  Then from Quebec they are loaded on a train for Chicago.  In Detroit, the train passes through customs which can delay things depending on the review process which seems to change every time.  Once in Chicago and after we have received customs clearance, we have to go to a warehouse to pick up the shipment.  As you can see, a lot has to happen for us to get the products from the manufacturer in Poland and ready for sale. 

So far we have been able to anticipate sales and place orders so that the new shipment arrives with in days of going out of stock.  However, our harvest sale was extremely popular this year.  We placed a new order as soon as we realized we would be out of stock.  The new shipment is expected to arrive in mid-November, hopefully with enough 10 Liter crocks to fulfill all the holiday orders. 

If you're anxiously awaiting more crocks to arrive, please be prepared for them to be back in stock in November.  We may go ahead and open up a presale in the week prior to the shipment arriving, similar to our approach at the beginning of October.  If you are interested in adding your name to a waiting list to be contacted first when the crocks will be going back in stock, please email emily@stonecreektrading.com.  And of course, I am always available to answer any questions you may have!

I know being out of stock can be very frustrating for some, but it means our business is growing, which means we will be able to provide more products and services to our customers!  Be sure to sign up for our newsletter (on the bottom right of the home page) to keep up to date on all the new things we are planning. 

Thanks, Emily

The day is finally here! The first 2 DABO block sets are now available for purchase from our website!

I can't tell you how excited we have been since we first discovered this product 4 months ago.  We immediately knew we wanted to offer them for sale.  These sets are unique, beautiful and natural, our top 3 requirements when looking for a new product!  We have never seen blocks with so many pieces included and an amazing variety of shapes & sizes. It has felt like a long road from that moment of discovery until now, when we can finally offer them for sale! 

We will be offering 4 different themed DABO block sets.  Today, we have the first two available -

DABO XL Castle Wood Block Set, 220 pcs

DABO XL City Wood Block Set, 140 pcs

Be sure to check out the product pages for all the details about these amazing toys!  And stay tuned for the next two sets to be available soon!