Online Souvenir Store Combines Love of Berkshires and Dogs
DALTON, Mass. — Local business owners Reuben and Amber Lara combined their love for the Berkshires and dogs to create the lifestyle brand "Barkshires Dog Trading Co."
This online shop celebrates dogs and the Berkshires using a vintage aesthetic. The brand sells sustainable clothing and prints including T-shirts, hats, dog bandanas, and stickers.
The couple moved to the Berkshires in 2015. Amber hails from Sunderland and Reuban is from Burbank, Calif., and they have a rescue dog, Millie.
Following a friend's visit to the Berkshires in November, the couple realized that there are not many souvenir stores and thus "Barkshires" was born.
"We've had guests come and want to grab some things," Reuben said. "... in a world where so much divides people, it feels like pets and particularly dogs are something that everyone can rally around and everyone has really rallied around it from just all walks of life."
The designs combine aspects of the Berkshires, from skiing to breweries, and pair them with different breeds. They hope to expand to include items that feature cats for local cat enthusiasts.
Reuben is a graphic designer, illustrator, and animator and because of his art the duo is plugged into the area's artist community.
After sharing their idea with some of their artist friends ranging in specialties from photography to web design the pieces came falling together. The duo have been working with local printers in Dalton and Pittsfield.
A major part of their mission is to support hardworking individuals involved in shelters and rescues.
While on the hunt for a dog of their own they discovered Pupstarz Rescue in New York City. They described the nonprofit as responsible and said they were very impressed with its adoption process.
To show their support for the organization and other shelters, they will be donating $1 from every T-shirt sale to either the Berkshire Humane Society or to Pupstarz Rescue.
Although being a fully sustainable brand is difficult, they are ordering their T-shirt products from five different manufacturers that have ethical sourcing and have either full or in part sustainable aspects to the fabric, Amber said.
"We appreciate when something is done well … So I think that's one of the reasons our store is taking a little while, is we really want to make sure every experience is thought through and celebrates good design in Berkshire life," Amber said.
They are also making sure that all their packaging, shippers, and boxes are recyclable and come from companies that focus on sustainable packaging.
"All that does definitely add to the cost of our products but we felt like that was well worth it and that folks, I think, are becoming more aware of what we can do as our part to buy responsibly and so we wanted to just make that part of our brand," Amber said.
Prior to opening their online shop, they have been vending at local events and farmers markets to gauge community interest.
While vending they have received a very warm welcome" from community members, Amber said.
"People seem to respond really quickly to the brand and one thing we love is that we had awesome conversations because everybody drawn to our tent loves dogs," she said.
"... so it's just a fun way to really plug into the animal loving community and the Berkshires."
An aspect of their products that they are looking forward to is the company's dog bandanas that feature "a really simple and elegant stitched pleat," which is not something they have seen done in dog bandanas before, Reuben said.
"It just gives it a little bit of a tailored style. It's got, like three little pleats that are just stitched in and a nice little round shape that, I feel like, it's just easier to put on and off dogs without having to re-tie which I hate retying. I'm super excited about our dog bandana products," he said.
To make the brand more inclusive and try to make all their customers happy, they have invested in including larger graphics for some of the big and tall sizes which a lot of companies do not do because of the added cost, Ruben said.
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