Meet Poladora When Stephanie Pirishis was engaged, she and her fiancé looked everywhere for the right gift registry options to fit their lifestyle and needs. Ideally, she wanted the ability to register at some of their favorite local stores, and snag the products that reflected who they were as a couple. After much research, she could not find an elegant solution, and so she took matters into her own hands and launched Poladora.com in 2009.
“Poladora
connects unique Chicago stores with couples looking to shop local.”
Poladora connects unique Chicago stores with couples looking to shop local. It boasts sixteen retailers, offering products and services including: traditional housewares; cooking equipment; furniture; cooking, dance and yoga classes; spa treatments; food and wine; and weddingrelated vendors (florists, photographers and stationers). As guests don’t always gift what couples are crossing their fingers for, Poladora holds each gift as a credit, and when the couple is ready, they may fulfill it for items that they truly want. This prevents a variety of hassles, from the need to return items or the disappointment when presents don’t live up to their expectations. Best of all, the credit is valid toward any item at any of Poladora’s retailers. Gives a whole new meaning to registries, no? We recently chatted with Stephanie about why Chicago couples are choosing Poladora for their gift registry needs. Be ‘U’
What separates Poladora from traditional registries? Poladora is not a one-stop big box store, retail chain or department store. We are a network of local stores, boutiques and services. Couples can choose from items from our 15+ stores with over 8,000 products and services. Couples register online through Poladora.com and find everything at their fingertips without having to visit all 15 retailers. Also, neither the couple nor the guests ever have to leave the site or be referred to a third party; everything is done directly through Poladora. Poladora also wants to make sure couples get what they want. This is why we are a consolidated registry. When guests buy couples a gift, we hold it as a credit, and couples then choose how and when to fulfill on their gifts. This is important to us because it allows couples to make sure they get the gifts that are a high priority to them and not be limited by which store the guest bought it from.