About Us

Stone Creek Trading is located in Frankfort, IL.  We are a small family business who imports all the items we sell direct from Poland.  We only work with small companies in Poland and focus on all natural products for your home.  We are best known for our fermenting crocks and supplies. 

We believe in honest business practices, which is why we only sell items that we have in stock at our facility.  We choose to keep our overhead low and pass on the savings to our customers.  We want to make our products affordable to as many people as possible.

How it all started

Stone Creek Trading, Ltd. was born out of a desire for something different.  When we looked around at the products that are available today, we kept seeing the same items over & over again.  In many cases, we also saw the same problems repeat themselves - from low quality to questionable origins and unsustainable materials & practices.  And so began our search for products that not only align with our natural lifestyle, but also enhance it.

We thought back to our childhoods and stories from our parents & grandparents about products and practices that no longer exist or are hard to find today.  Our research led us to seek out sources for these traditional items, and to find a way to offer them to you.

Who we are

Stone Creek Trading, Ltd. was founded by Krzysztof & Emily Kociolek, partners in business as well as marriage.

Our family visiting a castle in Poland on our 2016 new product scouting trip

Emily grew up in a small farming community in central Illinois where doing-it-yourself is the norm.  She has always enjoyed creating - from when her grandmother taught her to knit at age 8 to helping her parents build their house when she was in high school.  Emily spent most of her childhood building forts in the woods, getting dirty and learning that she could do anything she put her mind to.  Her not-afraid-of-hard-work ethic and love for all things natural and handmade are a byproduct of her small town upbringing.

Kryz was born and raised in southern Poland until he immigrated to the Chicago area with his family when he was 12.  From the earliest age he was part of the proverbial "kitchen staff", assisting his parents, grandparents, and great grandparents with all sorts of kitchen tasks (and also filled the role of chief taste tester).  He brings to the table a long family tradition of home cooking, gardening, preserving, pickling and mushroom hunting, all fundamental aspects of the regional Polish customs and traditions. 

Our family when we first started Stone Creek Trading in 2013

Emily & Kryz met while studying architecture abroad in college.  Our love for travel, as well as seeing and experiencing new things has led us to living in New York City, Portland, OR, and now the suburbs of Chicago.  When our first daughter was born, our whole world changed - for the better.  She taught us how important family is and motivated us to take charge of our lives and create the world we want her to grow up in.

What’s in a name?

Our family with the Kamienica (or Stone Creek) in Nowy Sacz, Poland - 2019

Stone Creek Trading is named in reference to the creeks that both Emily & Kryz grew up playing in.  We want our company to remind you of the “good ol’ days”  when kids spent the whole day playing outside, exploring, swimming in creeks and getting dirty.  More literally, the creek that Kryz grew up swimming in and that he had to cross on the way to his grandparents' house was called “Kamienica”.  In Polish Kamien means stone, and that creek had the stoniest bottom one could imagine.  Hence, Stone Creek Trading!  We hope to keep old traditions and time-tested way of life relevant in your contemporary lifestyle.