Ganz Klasse

Quick Short Review.
We were only briefly in the store.
Higher end gift and household wears and décor.
Friendly front house staff. Very helpful.
We were on a mission not only to start buying fun stuff for birthday and holiday for friends and family but to get some of that award winning mustard that they serve at Munchen Haus.
They sell it here.
They also house a very sample minded and very direct chocolate-​tier who will thrust samples at your gesicht if you get anywhere near the line where his little counter starts.
I almost purchased the pear cinnamon chocolate dip as a gift for a friend. It was really good.
I recommend.

This is a high-​end store with home décor and specialty food items from Europe. Art and fine china will start in the hundreds per piece. Photographs are not allowed or I’d have some to share here of the beautiful tea sets and china sets. They are divine. The store is very organized, clean and everything is well maintained.
I’ve not bought anything in the 2 visits here because everything is so expensive or it isn’t my taste like the $ 10 bar of soap. However, I like coming in here because I’m an artist and am attracted to the beauty of the art and dishes.
They sell what is advertised as the world’s hottest hot sauce. I’d like to see someone try to eat it.
This isn’t a store to bring in kids or you’ll be doling out some money for when they break something. The staff needs to be friendlier and not be so afraid of something breaking or else they need to change their business plan.

I love this store and always look forward to visiting it when I’m in Leavenworth. I have bought many an oil painting here and enjoy the rich European décor. Sure the owner gets in a bit of a snit– but it’s got to be darn hard with all those people running in and out the doors. Probably not the place for an upper scale store such as this– but I’m glad it’s there!

Friendly owner/​employee who encouraged us to ask him for samples of the various mustards. I bought the curry mustard and apricot ginger; delicious on pork chops or bratwursts.

We were enjoying Leavenworth on a frosty Thanksgiving morning, thinking it was quite nice that SOME of these shop-​owners were open on the holiday. We were going to make our way to the chocolate shop at the back of the over-​priced glass shop (Ganz Klasse) when I made the mistake of snapping a photo of a display in the shop. Right away I got a growled «No photos allowed» remark in my ear and we immediately left. What did he think I was going to do with it, comparison shop? No signs stating photos not allowed were apparent. I am not a child and disliked being treated like one. This is NOT a reflection of our stay in Leavenworth, just the proprietor here. We will return to Leavenworth, just not to this unfriendly shop.

Unfortunately — giving this place zero stars is not an option. I have been in this shop twice before and both times without incident. Once was to purchase a small jar of their most delectible pear cinnamon caramel and a couple of chocolates, and another to purchase a potato soup mix. No problem — I was also looking around at the other merchandise because sometimes I send care packages home to CA.
Moving on — today, I went in there with a friend of mine who I hadn’t seen in quite some time. I gushed and told her we MUST go into Ganz Klasse because they sell the best chocolates and oddly enough, have a great selection of mustards, soups, and other very nice gifts. I select my item and go up to the register to pay and the German gentleman is behind the counter — I can only assume he is the owner of the shop. While I am being rung up, my friend walks behind me and I hear something hit the ground. The proprietor shouts practically in my face, «JESUS!» and looks at my friend like she is trying to demolish his shop. We see that two of the candles has tipped off of the table. These candles are stacked in a precarious way already almost inviting an accident. But he continues to look at her like she is just destruction walking. He asks her if the candles are okay as she is putting them back in their place. She notices one has the tinniest little dent — literally, you couldn’t tell it was even there because it was ever so slight. He snatches the candle out of her hand and then slams it back on the table and says, ‘It’s yours.’. This is a $ 22 candle — she looks back and tells him how very sorry she is but that she doesn’t have money to pay for the candle. Then he looks at me and I tell him that I will take care of it. At this point, i really just wanted out of the store. She apologizes again and leaves the store. While I am waiting for this dude to finish with my transaction (which as gone from $ 8 to $ 30), he looks back at me and says, «Women and their pursese… always getting things messed up…» I looked at him and said, «Give me my card and let me get out of here.» Two women stopped my friend on her way out and asked her what had happened… after relating the story, the women kept walking the other way. After leaving, with the suspect candle in tow, my friend and I stopped so that she could compose herself — she felt so badly about the accident that it made her cry. The candle was a horrid scent called Linen and Lace — it smelled like old lady doused in perfume and soap. I stopped a lady — a perfect stranger — and offered her the candle. Neither myself or my friend wanted the damned thing, so I gave it away. Crazy — yes… why the hell would i give away a $ 22 candle? Because the candle stunk for one, and I think the rudeness of the not-​so-​gentleman proprietor made it even worse. I won’t be returning — the convenience of potato soup is one thing… but it’s another when I can make better at home, hehe.

A couple days ago, I stopped by Ganz Klasse to order a Franz Phoenician Flight bowl and said I’d follow up because someone was waiting for me. I stopped by today to complete the order and found something unique. The owner had called every showroom to find this discontinued item, called the owner of Franz, and regretted he was unable to find it. He tried so hard to help me find a precious item, and I found out this is the best-​sellling shop for Franz in the U.S. and that the owner of Franz comes to work on porcelain once a year. I’d come from CA to see that! I had not met these warm and thoughtful people before, and they treated me like royalty. They love what they do and enjoy sharing their beautiful Franz items. I look forward to giving them business in the future because they went way out of their way to help a stranger. Thanks! It’s a standard of service I haven’t experienced before.

I have to agree with other reviewers that Ganz Klasse may not be suitable for children. They may be highly tempted to touch merchandise and indulge in samples (behind their parents’ back). As for my husband and I, we ended up purchasing gifts (for ourselves!) and indulging in the chocolates from Shocolat in back of the shop. Oh yes… we even spent $ 11 on an assorted box of their delectable sweets. No doubt, Ganz Klasse carries mid-​range to high end items, but when we are on vacation, we like to bring home unique and great quality gifts to remind us of places we’ve traveled. We were greeted warmly from the gentleman behind the counter upon entering. We just returned from snow shoeing and still had on our snow gear. He was welcoming and we enjoyed our interaction with him.

This place makes me nervous. All this random fancy more-​expensive-​than-​your car crap lying around on tables. It’s pretty stuff, but I get nervous knowing that if I bump into a table too hard I’m going to lose half a paycheck. I felt like the guy behind the counter was giving me dirty looks too, and I’m not sure why. He was definitely staring down this family with little kids while we were there. This isn’t a great store for little kids, but geez, he could have said something rather than staring them down.
They also sell some little jams and sauces and things and have a few samples out, but A Matter of Taste right up the street has a much bigger, much better selection to choose from and try. And it’s a lot cheaper. Plus you don’t get the dirty stares.
Bonus star for the awesome chocolate shop in the back!

You’re awesome!
That’s what Ganz Klasse means in German. I didn’t even know that when we came into this shop. And I wouldn’t have known that all if the owner/​cashier hadn’t been so friendly and talked with Erik and I at length during two different visits here. Seriously, he was so nice! And he knew a lot about the items he was selling. This is a gift shop, but not some crappy gift shop with a bunch of lame souvenirs with the city name plastered all over it.
During our first visit we took our time looking around for nothing in particular. We ended up buying some fancy, different flavoured popcorn.
The next day we came back looking to purchase a nice gift for Erik’s grandma. She collects spoons and they had some very pretty decorative spoons for sale. The owner gave a little background on the artist which was interesting.
This is more of home decorating kind of shop. Lots of pretty knick-​knacks, fancy foods and tea, and the like. Prices range from affordable (less than $ 10) to expensive (over $ 500), depending on what you’re shopping for. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for the friendly, chatty owner, I probably wouldn’t remember this shop other than the fact they share space with Schocolat. But, that’s what helps make a good business, nice owners and employees. I’ll be sure to stop by Ganz Klasse when I return to Leavenworth.