Exclusive | ‘Ornament King’ Christopher Radko declares bankruptcy days

Exclusive | ‘Ornament King’ Christopher Radko declares bankruptcy days

He’ll be broke for Christmas.

The so-called Ornament King — whose European glass-blown decorations as soon as adorned presidential Christmas timber — has been compelled to declare bankruptcy attributable to what he calls a authorized nightmare.

Businessman Christopher Radko, a family identify well-known for his eponymous collectible ornaments, said a judicial brouhaha over a trademark dispute has left him over $1.3 million in the purple.

Since 1986, Putnam County resident Christopher Radko has been well-known for his Christmas tree ornaments. Tania Savayan/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK

“I spent my whole life bringing joy and magic to people and their Christmas trees, and now it’s come to an abrupt end, I can’t believe it,” Radko told The Post in an exclusive interview.

“This is truly a nightmare before Christmas.”

The dispute — with decoration behemoth Rauch Industries — is over the use of his personal authorized, and trademarked, identify.

Rach purchased the “Christopher Radko” model in 2005, and the longtime ornate decoration designer returned to the biz when he was legally allowed to in 2022, he said.

Radko has been compelled to declare bankruptcy because of what he calls a authorized nightmare. Instagram/@the_ornamentking

But Rach claims Radko violated a settlement settlement 36 occasions over the use of his identify, and is searching for $126,000 in penalties, plus nearly $1.2 million in what Radko called “irrational and unsupported legal fees,” in a letter to a federal choose this week.

“I am devastated,” Radko told The Post. “This is a tragic end to my 40-year Christmas legacy.

“I guess the Grinch does win in today’s cutthroat world,” he said. “All I’ve ever wanted is to share my heart through the European handmade ornaments I designed, but now my dreams are shattered.” 

“I am devastated,” Radko told The Post. “This is a tragic end to my 40-year Christmas legacy. Tania Savayan/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK

Rauch’s lawyer wrote in response to the court docket that Radko’s letter was “riddled with baseless inaccuracies,” including that the company was only searching for to gather the arbitration payout it was granted earlier this yr.

“There is no merit to any allegations that Rauch is responsible for shutting down Mr. Radko’s company. All Rauch has done is ask Mr. Radko to compete fairly, which he has continuously refused to do,” Rauch’s lawyer, Megan Ok. Bannigan, wrote in an announcement to The Post.

Radko, as soon as called the “Czar of Christmas” and the “Ornament King,” began his enterprise after knocking over the household Christmas tree a long time in the past — destroying his grandma’s cherished heirloom ornaments.

Rauch’s lawyer wrote in response to the court docket that Radko’s letter was “riddled with baseless inaccuracies.” John Meore/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK

Guilt-ridden, Radko said his seek for new heirloom-quality artisanal ornaments led him to start his personal import wholesale store in 1986, teaming up with glassblowers in the outdated nation and designing the seasonal decorations himself.

“By the year 2000,” he wrote in his letter to the court docket, “my sales had reached $65 million,” in addition to the consideration of the elite, including Princess Diana, Bruce Springsteen, Whoopi Goldberg, Dolly Parton, Elton John, Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn and Gregory Peck.

He was even invited to brighten the Kennedy Center, White House and Vice President Al Gore’s residence in 1997, the New York Times reported.

According to Radko’s letter to the court docket, his sales had reached $65 million by 2000. Instagram/@the_ornamentking

To this day, his ornate, colourful and cheerful designs — fastidiously sourced from European mom-and-pop glass blowers — fetch tons of on the collectors market. 

But life’s challenges compelled Radko to promote his namesake model in 2005 to Rauch, a “goliath” in the decoration trade, he said. 

Two years later, he stopped designing for the Christopher Radko model after he claimed guarantees to retain manufacturing in Europe and preserve his model out of big-box retailers had been damaged.

Even to this day, Radko’s designs promote for tons of on the collectors’ market. YouTube/The Ornament King

Radko signed a 13-year non-competition settlement. He began a new company called “Ornament King” when it expired in 2022, and offered over $1 million in merchandise at his first commerce present that yr, according to The Washington Post, with new followers including Kylie Jenner and Adele. 

But Rauch instantly pursued him over trademark violation allegations, he claimed.

The company pursued an “aggressive legal campaign, harassment, and depositions, draining my startup’s profits through ongoing litigation,” despite a federal ruling affirmed he might use his identify in a non-trademark method, Radko wrote.

But life’s challenges compelled Radko to promote his namesake model in 2005 to Rauch, a “goliath” in the decoration trade, he said.  Instagram/@the_ornamentking; NBCUniversal by way of Getty Images

Ultimately, Radko said he was led to signal an “even more onerous agreement” with Rauch “that severely limited how my customers and I could use my name,” after dealing with “lacking resources and stress-related declining health,” according to the letter.

“In practice, I found the 40-page agreement confusing and riddled with traps” — with the latter sparking at the very least one among the 36 alleged violations attributable to Rauch “policing my social media,” he wrote.

One supposed violation got here from utilizing his identify to announce a breast cancer decoration in honor of his cancer-stricken sister, his letter claims.

Christopher Radko photographed at his Cold Spring house on Nov. 28, 2023. John Meore/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK

“It is ironic that the Goliath-sized Rauch Industries, branding itself as the “Christopher Radko Company,” appears intent on pushing me, the artist Christopher Radko, a person just making an attempt to make a residing, out of enterprise,” he said.

“To me, it’s like telling SANTA ‘you’re fired!’”

Bannigan, the company’s lawyer, said that Radko had “repeatedly disrespected and failed to meaningfully acknowledge binding agreements, forcing Rauch to pursue legal action to enforce its rights and protect the brand it purchased from him.”

“Rather than respect the agreement he signed and the judicial process, Mr. Radko now makes a slew of false and irrelevant allegations against Rauch to continue to harm its business,” she added.

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