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I am Kurt Holmgren, Proprietor of Eastern European Im/Export. For 2 years I lived in Poland as a representative of my faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a Mormon missionary, I was privileged to live in various cities and also to interact in a very close way with the Polish people. Some cities in which I lived were Warsaw, Sopot, Bytom, Ruda Slaska, and Cracow. I developed many friendships with the Polish people and am impressed by their deep dedication to family and country. Poles are also the most hospitable people that I ever met.
While living in Poland I learned a little of the country's strong folk history. I found the wood carvings most impressive. The attention to detail, brilliant colors, and, most of all, the personal styles are all elements that make Polish folk art distinct and beautiful.
I have always found other countries–their traditions, foods, and people –fascinating. My wife, Erica, also possesses a passion for other cultures. She has lived in Japan for eight years and Greece for four. Since getting married in 1998, we have visited several countries in Eastern Europe (this is, of course, before we had our daughters Macy Jade and Aja Noel). We have always wanted to start a little company together, and when we found that Polish wood carvings were hardly ever exported to the U.S., decided that it would be a great place to start. We are happy to be able to help the humble yet very talented Polish artists.
Our first intent was to import wood crafted folk art, but as business progressed we saw that most people were interested in Nativities. We decided that through focusing specifically on Nativities, we could provide better quality art to our customers. At first we had our pieces in local stores, museums, and galleries in the Utah Valley, and in March 1999 created a web site, Nativities.com. The following Christmas season, between November 25 and December 25 our site was hit 122,000 times. To date our site has been hit over 2.5 million times.
We hope you enjoy our web site,
Kurt Holmgren
Proprietor
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