I am passionate about a few things, and one of those is supporting small business whenever it can be done.  Shopping the stores on Broad Street supports small business.  Over the next few weeks I will be pointing out some great gift ideas to be found in the Polish stores on Broad Street.

The stores in Little Poland offer a variety of products perfect for Christmas gifts.  They sell packaged cookies and candy from Poland, mustards, crunchy snacks, and vegetables in jars.  There are also giftware, cds and Poland themed clothes.  Today, I am focusing on the drogeria (drug store) which shares space with Podhale travel.  The store is located across the street from Sacred Heart Church and next to Teresa’s flowers.  The easiest way to find it is look for the Podhale travel sign.

When you walk into the store you will be pleasantly surprised.  The store, like most stores on Broad Street, is small and full of items.  There are four sets of shelves in the store.  On the left hand side is a selection of supplements from both American and Polish companies.  Ava, the store owner, explained to me she stocks many of the same supplements that they sell at Whole Foods.  I admit I am not interested in supplements, but I know lots of people are so I thought I would point them out to you.

I was interested in the other two thirds of the store-the skin and hair products.  In May, I went to Poland on a trip with Jonathan Shea and 44 other Americans.  While we were there, several of the ladies were introduced to some moisturizing creams that are formulated for different age ranges.  (Note: I will not admit what age ranges we were looking at!).  They cleaned out every drogeria we ran into during our trip.  Last night, I called one of them to tell her about the drogeria here.  She is planning on visiting Broad Street next week to restock.

I am interested in the skin and hair products for two reasons.  First, items manufactured in Poland must follow the European Union requirements for ingredients.  The European Union usually has much stricter guidelines for questionable chemicals than the United States.  Second, I have three people on my gift list that are impossible to buy for that they actually like.  They are my mother, her sister, and my grant aunt who is 98 years young.

When it comes to skin and hair products, the store stocks many different products.  They have soaps, lotions and creams.  All are imported from Poland and may or may not have any English on the label, however store owner Ava speaks perfect English and can help you translate the labels.  In Poland we were not as lucky and we had to make do with my horrible Polish language skills and hand signals.  There are some brands you will recognize like Nivea, but formulated for Poland.  There was a large selection of shampoos and hair colors.  I have long and now color treated hair, so I am constantly searching for a shampoo that is nondrying and prevents color fading.   Like all the stores on Broad Street, prices are reasonable, and sometimes cheaper than big stores.

The store also has a small selection of products for babies.  I am definitely buying my next baby shower gift here.  New mothers always need baby wash, etc. and there is a much better chance they will use them rather than the dozen absolutely adorable fancy dresses which are so cute to buy for gifts.

Back to Christmas gifts.  I intend to buy a selection of body lotions and creams for my three picky gift people.  There is a certain mystique about products from Europe and I feel better about giving them because they are probably safer than American products and I am supporting a small business right here in Connecticut.

If you stop in to shop at the drogeria, please tell them you heard about them from the American on Broad Street.

Until next time,

Dorena