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Superstar ornament designer comes to town
By Mike Copeland Tribune-Herald business editor
Sunday, October 30, 2005
One could almost feel the air of anticipation upon entering Lanell Hagar's colorful shop
Thursday evening. There was a buzz of excitement, as customers awaited the arrival of
the Christopher Radko.
In the world of shiny ornaments, Radko is hailed as a star. He's an icon whose
appearances at gift shops send collectors into a frenzy.
In person, the 45-year-old New Yorker is refreshingly down-to-earth. He smiled easily
and charmed the customers who waited up to an hour to have him sign their purchases
at Hagar's store in Ridgewood Village.
Hagar warmly greeted Radko and welcomed him to Waco, a mid-size town with a small-
town feel, she said. "Does that mean white gravy goes on everything?" asked Radko,
smiling and warming to the occasion.
Inside, Radko talked about the reason for his visit. He's celebrating his 20th year of
designing ornaments that artisans in Europe create for him by hand. "This store has
been buying from me for many years; it is one of my loyal customers," said Radko,
adding that he wanted to reward Hagar by paying a personal visit to her shop. He is well
aware that collectors flock to stores when he makes an appearance.
His tour will take him to 50 shops across the country, including one more in Texas.
Radko will visit Houston, but Patsy Hunt was taking no chances. She drove up
Thursday with her husband, David, her daughter-in-law, Lisa, and her grandbaby. She
was not going to let Radko get this close without seeing him and the collection at
Hagar's store. Hunt bought her first ornament in 1994, after seeing Radko interviewed
on a morning TV talk show in Tulsa, Okla., where the Hunts were living at the time. "I'm
probably approaching 200 now," said Hunt of her cache of ornaments. She paused in
her shopping to catch the eye of her husband, hold up a decorative Santa's head and
proclaim: "I want this one, too! If I see one I can't do without, I splurge," said Hunt, who
said she has spent as much as $125 on a Radko ornament, though most cost about a
third of that.
Radko sketches his own designs for ornaments, which celebrate not only Christmas but
St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Valentine's Day and personal events in the life of a person,
such as the buying of a first home. A graphics team fine tunes his sketches, while final
production takes place in workshops in Poland, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic.
Each glass piece takes at least seven days to complete, but neither Radko nor his
artisans will compromise on quality. They know they're creating keepsakes and
heirlooms that may be passed from generation to generation. "They could be (mass
produced) in China," said Radko, but that would not be the same thing." Radko said he
comes up with about 500 new designs each year and sells 1 million ornaments annually,
generating about $30 million in revenue.
Susan Ballow on Thursday drove to Lanell Hagar's from Evant with her 8-year-old
daughter, Taylor. Both love collecting Radko ornaments. "I even have a list of the ones I
want," said Susan, dragging out her paperwork. She said she was reduced to tears
when she broke her favorite ornament titled "Long Winter's Nap." It featured Santa
snuggled up beneath a patchwork quilt. The ornament fell and shattered on the
hardwood floor of Susan's home as she hung it. "She cried," said little Taylor Ballow.
Radko said he knows the feeling. In 1984, he bought a new tree stand for his family's 14-
foot Christmas tree. His family decorated it, as always, with a treasured collection of
more than 2,000 mouth-blown glass ornaments from Poland. One week before
Christmas, the tree crashed to the floor, shattering almost every ornament in the
collection.
That event launched Radko's career. The next spring, he visited relatives in Europe in
search of ornaments to replace those that had broken. He couldn't find them, but he did
find a glass blower who knew the art and was as determined as Radko to revive it.
Radko asked him to make some ornaments for his family, using antique molds and
some of Radko's own designs he remembered from childhood. He ended up selling
these ornaments to friends, then set out for Poland to secure more. "I was working in
the mail room of a talent agency in New York at the time, not making a lot of money,"
said Radko. "My parents are doctors, and they wanted me to become a doctor," said
Radko. "They were very disappointed that I didn't go to medical school, but I've been
blessed in getting to do what I love doing."
Radko said he's never stuck for an idea. "That's the easy part," he said with a smile.
Ideas for Santas, snowmen, ice skaters and Christmas stockings float into his head and
he puts them to paper.
Said Hagar: "There are many lines of European glass on the market, but his have a
brilliance of color and a creativity that people latch on to." Hagar has been in business
26 years, and many Waco residents may remember her shop on the old Lake Air Mall
that was demolished to make room for the Target Greatland store at Bosque Boulevard
and Wooded Acres Drive. She said she has been chosen one of five retailers nationwide
that will ship ornaments to customers who order from Radko's Web site. "I've got 18 big
boxes of Web merchandise I need to tend to right now," she said Friday morning.
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