Sunday morning breakfast with light, fluffy pancakes and delicious maple syrup drizzled on top, an afternoon barbecue with sizzling hot-off-the-grill burgers and the best condiments and sauces to make them legendary, a cozy winter day wrapped up in a soft, cotton throw blanket and the warm fragrance of scented candles in the air, or just a lazy summer day rocking gently on the front porch in a wooden rocker... These are just a few of the countless little pleasures in American life that we wish to bring into your home.

My name is Sabine Ryan, and I am the founder and general manager of American Heritage. For years, I carefully brought beautiful things for myself and gifts for friends from the USA back to Germany. My suitcase was frequently overweight and some things just didn’t want to fit in the first place. My green rocking chair is a prime example. It was love at first sight. The green rocker simply had to come home with me to Germany! By plane? Not a chance. And because of the oversized dimensions, no postal service wanted to ship the chair for me at any cost. Thus, the idea arose to import not only this one rocking chair but many of them by ship and sell them in Germany, first at trade shows and then in my own shop. The ideas for the rest of the first assortment of products were found in my own home from candles to baking pans, from barbecue equipment and supplies to maple syrup and home decor. We filled a container and opened our first store in the historic district of Augsburg in 2005. It was the beginning of something truly special! More stores in Munich, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, and Stuttgart soon followed. We even expanded beyond the country’s border and opened a store in Salzburg.

American Heritage is my personal dream-come-true American Dream (even if the experience gained importing goods sometimes bordered on an American nightmare). Delivery shortages, customs duties, quality tests, regulations, and food controls are only a few of the catchwords which describe the complexity of the import business. Years of experience, including some learned the hard way, however, have made us strong and knowledgeable in this area. We have know-how and competence when it comes to importing. That’s why we’ve decided to greatly expand our online store with European-wide distribution including supplying a limited number of wholesale retailers with our select products. However, we did not want to completely say goodbye to stationary retail marketing because the direct connection to our customers, friends, and companions is so important to us. For this reason, we have a retail store located in the Augsburg “Martini Park“. With its industrial style brick buildings with extra-high ceilings and huge floor-to-ceiling windows, you almost feel like you’re in Brooklyn, New York there. Our retail and online store is where we sell our gourmet products from American family-run companies such as Stonewall Kitchen, Rufus Teague, and Crown Maple. We also sell the wonderfully scented candles from Kringle Candle and Country Candle for which we are also the exclusive provider in a number of European countries. I personally select the unique items which become a part of our product assortment. Not only the quality but also the philosophy of the suppliers plays an important roll for me. I know the suppliers personally and take a look at their work on site. That is an important part of the American Heritage business culture. We love all of our products, and we want you as our customer to feel this way too.

Our passion for one product is so immense that we now craft it ourselves. In our Augsburg Popcorn Atelier, Everly Grace, we conjure up delicious popcorn using our unique recipes. From Raspberry Drizzle to Caramel & Sea Salt Sensation, and even Pumpkin Spice Perfection - all our varieties are meticulously created with premium, natural ingredients, free from artificial colorings, exclusively for our customers. The joy of crafting new, creative recipes and receiving the enthusiastic feedback from our customers is a unique driving force!

And the green rocking chair with which it all began? It still exists today not only displayed proudly on our store logo but also in its special place of honor in my home. I often sit in this chair and allow my thoughts to fly through all the years with American Heritage and the invaluable encounters with you, our loyal and valued customers. Thank you for accompanying us on this journey which is still far from over.

With warmest regards,
Sabine Ryan