* Owner: Chris Mosey
* Founded: 2001
* Distinctions: Ignis Glass Studio, located at 401 Broad Street Suite 105 in the heart of downtown Chattanooga, offers the public the chance to have a hands-on glass-blowing experience. The studio lets people blow their own heirloom glass ornament or paperweight with the help of its professional artists. “You may choose colors, assist with working the piece, and actually trap your own breath in glass,” Ignis says. Costs start at $40 per design (three styles to choose from) with a $5 discount for groups of 10 or more.
* By the numbers: On a really busy day, Ignis’ customers produce upwards of 120 pieces of heirloom glass, said store manager Tommy Payne. Ignis used to only make ornaments around Christmas time, but the economic crash of 2008 put a lot of art galleries out of business, which meant Ignis’ full-time glassblowers lost that market. So Ignis started inviting the public in to make ornaments year-round, he said. “That is what has kept us alive. We’re artists, but the art wasn’t paying the bills.”
* Brand: Ignis is Latin for fire. The business re-branded its ornaments to heirloom glass as it began to let the public make them year-round. “It can be a sun-catcher or a tree ornament – whatever you want it to be,” Payne says. Paperweights also have year-round appeal.