Andie Cassette of By Land + Sea & Ri-ri-ku

 

Andie Cassette of By Land + Sea & Ri-ri-ku

Name: Andie Cassette 

City: Los Angeles

What do unlikely candles, true crime, and great apparel have in common? Andie Cassette, owner of By Land + Sea Showroom. Andie is cool, curious, and fiercely unique. She’s passionate about giving independent brands from around the world a platform — from contemporary apparel to footwear.
When the opportunity arose to have a public-facing retail space for By Land + Sea, she went all in and opened Ri-ri-ku — a dreamy concept shop in Los Angeles’s Highland Park where you can find anything from stemware to bath products, to a candle shaped like a basketball, to your next pair of go-to shades.

In addition to her work promoting and offering logistical support to independent brands, she’s a co-host of the podcast Love Murder — where she and her longtime friend Jessie Pray tell stories of cases gone fatally wrong.

BOLD MOVES: We love Andie’s appraoch to supporting independent brands and small businesses.

WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND YOUR DREAMY CONCEPT SHOP, RI-RI-KU? The shop was a total pipe dream that became a reality in a very organic way.  I had a lot of encouragement and support from my co-workers at the time and currently to follow my dream and do it.  I always wanted to have a shop but I had my relationships and connections in wholesale.  An opportunity arose where I could have a wholesale office with street facing real estate and I took it and we just started doing it.  The name ri-ri-ku came from a girlfriend of mine in London who was helping me think up names for our 3PL aspect of our business and it was just so cute and warm that we decided to use it for retail.  It is a spin on the word ririku in Japanese which means to take off.  The entire aesthetic was also something that evolved organically as well - its a very dreamy, ethereal, whimsical vibe - we wanted to create something that felt surreal and welcoming.  So welcoming in fact that customers would want to inject what they find into the shop into their or their loved ones lives.  We try to be affordable and accessible to all and honor permanent discounts for our local neighborhood clients.

WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED IN ALMOST 9 YEARS OF THE BY LAND + SEA SHOWROOM: WOW okay - I had no idea I have owned BLS for nearly a decade until you phrased the question like that lol!  I apparently just learned that I have no concept of time, haha.  Our main goal is to help independent designers with domestic business structures that they may not otherwise have access to - so we help with sales, distribution 3PL services, pick and pack and inventory.   We work primarily with international brands and help them gain business with retailers from majors to specialty boutiques in the US.  We LOVE our designers and want them to feel as though we are an extension of their business here in the US.  I have learned that bigger isn’t necessarily better - we want to make sure that we provide quality service for our brands - providing them with all of the services they need to our fullest potential.

THE MOST UNLIKELY CANDLE YOU’VE EVER MADE: Honestly - all of the candles are the most unlikely candles - I can’t believe that we ever even started making candles and to be honest it nearly saved our business in 2020!  With hundreds of thousands of dollars of wholesale orders being cancelled we didn’t know what we were going to do!  They were the most unlikely business saver ever and I am forever appreciative to them and all of the wonderful helpers I had along the way with every aspect of that part of our business.

YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU LOVE TRUE CRIME PODCASTS. WHAT SHOULD WE BE LISTENING TO? I not only love TC podcasts but I actually have one of my own.  I love almost anything Wondery puts out, Serial and my friends at a Going West.  I started a podcast with my best friend Jessie Pray in 2020 and it was one of the best things I ever agreed to do.  I personally hate the sound of my own voice and swore that ever as much as I love podcasts I would never do one myself and then in June of 2020 I found myself all set up with recording equipment getting ready to record our first episode.  We are bi-coastal besties and have recorded the past two years + from afar but are now so happy to be able to record together.  Additionally - we both found out we were pregnant at the beginning of July and have toddlers now that are 5 days apart.  

WHAT YOU’RE GIFTING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON: I am gifting a myriad of gifts - anything from a weed oil diffuser to a quilted blanket - I love the holidays and I spend all year trying to remember what to get all of my loved ones and being sent into sheer panic once December rolls around but I feel pretty good about this year :)

 
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