Ivan and Anna Pivovarovi are entrepreneurs who are known in Ukraine and worldwide for their diverse glass works in Tiffany technique. They develop and expand the achievements of the stained glass workshop, which Ivan’s parents opened in Sumy back in 1995. Currently, the brand GlassArtStories has over 90,000 sales on Etsy, the majority of which are made to order. Satisfied customers are the main driving force that inspires the GlassArtStories artisans to create unique masterpieces into which they put their energy, soul, and special meanings.
How it all started
Ivan’s parents became interested in working with glass back in 1989-1990 when they worked in a stained glass workshop in Dresden, Germany. It was there that his mother learned to make stained glass in the modern Tiffany technique — developed by American Louis Comfort Tiffany, a relative of the founder of the renowned jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. The designer invented a unique technology of glass casting and bonding its pieces together.
At that time, no one in Ukraine knew about the Tiffany technique. It was refined and elegant, very different from the usual techniques everyone was accustomed to, using 5-7 colors, large details, and broad seams.
“I was three years old. We lived in Germany, where my dad served. My mother stayed home with me. One day, she was shown how to make stained glass lamps, and she started making them to order for Germans. After returning to Ukraine, she traveled several more times to Germany for work. Eventually, my parents decided to establish their own stained glass workshop.”
Thus, in 1995, the workshop “Vitrazi Pivovarovych” appeared, employing over seventy craftsmen. The assortment included stained glass, doors, windows, lamps, even domes. All this was successfully sold in Ukraine until minimalistic monochrome fashion came into vogue. Eventually, the company remained mainly in the niche of church commissions, where stained glass and mosaics were created using their own developed technologies.
“Since I can remember, there was always a multitude of colorful glass around me. I was never left at home; I was always taken to the production. My parents were more involved in the business. I just helped as I could: creating business cards and brochures, developing presentations, coding websites, mastering new digital cameras that gradually replaced film. Everything was rapidly changing, so I had to learn and adapt to keep up with the times.”
Shop on Etsy
Later, there was a period when orders for glass products significantly decreased. Due to the Russia-Ukraine war, people stopped investing in stained glass. The number of employees in the workshop decreased to fifteen.
“Only highly qualified craftsmen remained, who had worked at the company for more than ten years. We supported them as best as we could. The orders we received were barely enough to cover wages and material costs. The question arose — where to go next?”
Ivan started looking for online platforms where he could sell handmade goods. He registered on eBay and Etsy, but the latter seemed too complicated at the time. However, after a year, considering the success of acquaintances, he and his wife took a closer look at this marketplace.
“We started selling everything we had at that moment. Mainly paintings and lamps, as we weren’t engaged in jewelry yet. I still remember our first sale — a painting — for exactly $1,000. After that, we realized that a store on Etsy opens endless opportunities and prospects.”
He divided responsibilities with his wife Anna, who knows English well. Ivan handled production and photography, Anna wrote listings and communicated with customers. Together, they explored Etsy, looked for a niche. They analyzed prices and experimented with advertising, headlines, and tags.
“Initially, we copied products of other manufacturers, for example, the famous Disney brand. Just like each other. That was a mistake, and we got banned for it later. But it was a valuable experience. We realized we could create something of our own, even better. That’s how we started a line of our own products.”
Currently, GlassArtStories has about 800 products. Over five years of the store’s existence, the full product range exceeds three thousand items. When sales of a specific product decline, it is removed from the catalog and replaced with new designs aligned with current trends.
Another complex aspect is organizing production and sourcing materials. The team receives glass from the USA, and it can vary from batch to batch. Training a single master takes up to half a year, as it’s crucial that each product closely resembles what the customer sees in the photos.
“Ivan believes that any business should primarily focus on the customer. If the customer is satisfied, they will come back for more and always recommend the shop to their friends… You need to think carefully about how you communicate with the customer. Find your tone of voice. For example, we have clients with whom we exchange news about the current situation in our countries. It adds life to the shop.”
“I’m not sure if the product is more important than the customer. Every product has its buyer, and choosing what exactly you will do… you’re simply choosing a niche… Whether you reach that threshold or not depends largely on how you present your products and how you communicate with customers.”
After February 24
During quarantine, the company continued working with positive dynamics. But then the war started. The production of GlassArtStories is located on the outskirts of Sumy, forty kilometers from the border. It was in this area that the occupying forces “ranged.”
The team stayed in Sumy for a few weeks, after which some people moved to Cherkasy. Leaving was difficult and dangerous due to shelling of “green corridors.”
“There were eight of us. Initially, I left with my family, then others followed… When the automotive connection was restored, we managed to redirect the entire stock of finished products to Cherkasy. We had turned on the Etsy shop earlier — selling digital postcards supporting Ukraine.”
Part of the money from the postcards we kept, most of it was transferred to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Later, we started transferring those sums to support Sumy brigades. Each of us has friends in different sectors of the front. They need tablets, power banks, shoes, foam mats, sleeping bags, and much more. We bought everything necessary and delivered it to places where we knew it would be needed. Even SUVs capable of off-road travel were purchased. On the front, this is, consider, consumables. Overall, we donated over a million hryvnias for these efforts.
In Sumy, the enterprise resumed work a month after the full-scale invasion. When the troops withdrew from the city but stayed in the region, the staff who did not leave began to commute. They organized remote management of production. Items produced in Sumy were packed and shipped to Cherkasy via carriers, which transported humanitarian aid to Sumy. There were no other options; no logistics companies in the region were operating at that time.
“Now we are working in some uncertainty. Sometimes we hear gunfire, explosions. We have a rule at the facility: if someone is worried about their life when hearing gunfire, they can confidently go home. The first time we heard gunfire, of course, we panicked and scattered. After that, no one was scared anymore. Now, there are chats where threats are warned about. For example, if they write ‘border areas are being shelled with mortars,’ we can stay safely at the site. A mortar shell won’t reach us.”
Stories that fill life with meaning
As mentioned above, GlassArtStories is a highly customer-oriented brand. They even have a dedicated production branch that works solely with custom orders.
“We draw a sketch, send it to the client, they review and approve. Things happen. I remember a woman named Wendy very well. Her name became synonymous for us. She was quite meticulous, wanted a million flowers: big, small, all natural shades. We kept reworking it until we reached consensus. In the end, such a custom order barely breaks even because so much time is spent on constant rework. But it’s important for us that each order results in the best possible outcome.”
This approach works better than advertising and positively influences the store’s ranking — thanks to satisfied customers, the GlassArtStories brand often appears among search results on Etsy.
“Recently, we had an interesting client — a woman from Taiwan. She bought several of our pieces, then started ordering in batches. We asked if she was reselling, but it turned out she gifts our products to her clients and partners.”
Before New Year, already during the war, this woman asked us to make gifts for Ukrainian children. She paid for the order, the craftsmen at GlassArtStories made the pieces, bought candies, and delivered everything to a children’s hospital for Saint Nicholas Day. Later, she had an idea to make gifts for the elderly as well. She paid for a mosaic for the oldest Cossack church in the city — the Sumy Resurrection Cathedral of the Kyiv Patriachate. The next philanthropic project was a work for the Sumy Art Museum.
“She invests heavily in Ukrainian culture. She says she cares about us because how our situation unfolds also depends, among other things, on the future of Taiwan.”
Western Bid
Ivan met Western Bid immediately after opening his store. The entrepreneur was looking for ways to properly and legally transfer funds from sales.
“I liked the settings in Western Bid the most. The interface was very convenient and intuitive. The consultants helped connect Shopify. Also, Western Bid offers shipping via UPS Express and Consolidation Plus. It’s convenient because parcels reach the recipient very quickly. And it’s important for us that after placing an order, the client receives their goods as soon as possible and remains satisfied.”
Additionally, GlassArtStories uses the warehouses of Western Bid fulfillment located in the USA. Ivan thought that now it would be safer to store products there rather than in Sumy, 40 km from the border.
“In current conditions, we don’t know what might happen with production at any moment. So now, we are simultaneously fulfilling and dispatching current orders, stockpiling finished products in the local warehouse, and filling the fulfillment warehouse.”
Among the advantages of Western Bid, Ivan mentions their customer support and individual consultations with experts on complex issues, answers to which are not easy to find online.
“I like that Western Bid is constantly evolving. Sometimes, I leave them a remark or suggestion in my personal account for service improvements, and later I notice that improvements are appearing. So, there’s feedback. And that’s wonderful. It ensures mutual growth.”
Conclusion about Western Bid’s role
For the brand GlassArtStories, Western Bid has become a strategic partner in ensuring stability and business development:
- Security and scaling: Using fulfillment in the USA allows safeguarding inventory from border risks and speeding up delivery.
- Technological development: Integration with Shopify and expert consultations helped transform the workshop into a modern international business.
- Partnership and dialogue: Feedback and constant service improvement create conditions for mutual growth of the intermediary and entrepreneur.