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The young couple started working directly with the glass blowers that make these shapes just north of Prague, but also went into designing pieces that were really part of the American lifestyle, such as larger goblets, hurricanes and cake domes.

Juliska first caught my eye back in 2004 while I was shopping the antique stores around Canal Street in Stamford. I had spotted the newly opened flagship store and decided to have a look. The moment I stepped in, I knew I had stumbled onto something very special.    

Indeed, with Capucine’s design sensibility and David’s commercial background, the couple makes a dynamic duo. So much so that, even in a tough economy, the Goodings’ business has grown leaps and bounds in the last 10 years – an impressive 25 percent.

The company’s not-so-secret formula is creating beautiful, functional luxe furnishings for chic everyday living. The Juliska collection has gone from 40 pieces of mouth-blown glass to 600 pieces inspired by six centuries of European design in glassware, ceramics, linens, lighting, flatware and home scents.

With 50 employees today, the Goodings are intent on creating a corporate culture that is exceedingly creative, young and most of all, fun. Even the Juliska website is playful with its “Almost Factual History,” which gives a humorous account of Juliska’s journey through time.

That humor was very much in evidence when I met David at his flagship store for our interview. Flashing me a warm smile, he handed me his business card, which reads “David Gooding, Le Grand Fromage.”

How does an Englishman from Surrey end up here in Stamford, heading up one of the fastest growing home-furnishing design companies in the country?

“My father was an importer and distributor in the tableware industry in the United Kingdom, so I grew up there until I was 18 and worked in his business. When my father retired, my parents moved to the States for a couple years, so I went to an American College as every English boy wants to do, because they saw ‘Animal House.’  After college, I worked for Mackenzie-Child, a high-end tableware company in the States for one year – traveling round the country, making connections with Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. This was important, because it would later lay the foundation for me going to the same stores and selling them my own line of goods. At 23, I started a business representing several manufacturers.  I traveled every week throughout the United States. Did that for a few years, then that’s when I met my wife. In 2001 we launched Juliska.”