Two brothers started a custom cup business in 2018 to raise money for their late sister’s disease. Now that business has grown into a storefront that sells many handmade crafts and offers do-it-yourself (DIY) classes.
Danielle Androli, the mother of Charlie and Aidan Androli, runs C and A Design located in downtown Waseca at 208 N State St. The store opened in March 2023 after the closing of Hammer & Stain in 2022. C and A has been in business since 2018 as a way to donate to a cause that is close to Danielle and her family.
Cup business
Danielle’s daughter and Charlie and Aidan’s sister Larissa died in 2009 from tuberous sclerosis complex at the age of 13. She was diagnosed with the disease when she was 3 years old.
The disease was rare, as Larissa was only the third case Rochester Mayo had seen when she was diagnosed. Nine years after her death, Charlie and Aidan decided to start a custom cup business to keep the memory and spirit of Larissa alive and help raise money to donate toward finding a cure for the disease.
“We did that to raise money for my daughter who had passed away in 2009,” Danielle said. “We gave money towards her disease that she had and then in the last couple years, we mainly donated to the Waseca Bluejays dance program, because that’s what she was in.”
10% of the cup sales go to the dance program. The boys sell the cups on Tumblr and also at the store downtown. But as they are getting older, with Charlie just graduating and Aidan heading into his senior year of High School, the cup making process is getting too much and they had to make a hard decision to slow down the cup making process.
“Unfortunately they’re growing up and doing their own thing, so the cup part is starting to kind of go out,” Danielle said.
The boys will still continue to make laser engraved cups, with them being sold at the store downtown with lots of other items made by area crafters.
Storefront
C and A Designs has grown into a storefront that allows for crafters and vendors to showcase and sell their arts and crafts.
“Once we opened up in here, we wanted to be able to showcase other crafters and vendors,” Danielle said about the store downtown.
Crafters and vendors rent space at the store for their items for $25 a month. They then get to keep all the profits they get from the sales. Danielle keeps track of all the sales and gives the vendors a sales report at the end of every month.
Because there are different vendors who have their work in the store, C and A Designs offers a variety of goods for people to buy, including candles, wood puzzles, metal flags, and health and wellness items.
Danielle strives to help local vendors and crafters by exposing their works and having them generate interest from the community.
Along with the cups, Charlie and Aidan also sell 3D printed artwork and wood carvings in the store. As one aspect of the business is coming to a close, Danielle, Charlie and Aidan are still finding ways to honor Larissa’s legacy.
Workshop
Another thing C and A Designs is able to offer after moving into a place downtown is classes and workshops hosted by Danielle and many other crafters and artists in the southern Minnesota community.
One of the most popular classes Danielle has done was making blankets, which she did seven classes of in the winter, with each one of them selling out.
The classes C and A Designs offer take place in the back part of the store, and the workshops also draw people in to look around at the front of the store.
“Our biggest time when we get people to buy is when they come in for our workshops,” Danielle said about the homemade goods at the front of the store. “They’re like ‘oh I didn’t know this was here,’ so then they scope everything and then they buy stuff.”
For the workshops, Danielle teaches some of the classes and also brings in people who can teach the community things that she can’t.
“I can’t do crocheting or knitting, so I have people come in that do that,” said Danielle.
Having other people come in to teach classes offers the community a variety of things to make and learn, which is Danielle’s intentions.
“I don’t want to stick with just one thing, because people lose interest after a while,” Danielle said. “I want to try to have a variety of things and if I can’t do it, I try to look for somebody out there that would come in and be willing to teach things.”
Danielle sometimes doesn’t have to look far for someone to come in and teach workshops, as she tries to have the vendors that sell items in the front of the store to come in and teach.
“It gives them exposure and also helps them to realize that they can actually teach something like that and come out of their comfort zone,” said Danielle.
Michelle Aragon of Michelle’s Kloset Kreations is one of the vendors that has items for sale at C and A Designs. Aragon went to High School with Danielle and they have kept in touch with each other since as they both were vendors for Unity Gifts in Waseca.
After Unity Gifts closed, Aragon thought it was great that Danielle was going to open a similar store in downtown Waseca. Aragon was willing to have the wreaths that she makes be sold at the store, but she was hesitant on teaching a class when Danielle offered her to teach one.
“It was scary at first since it was out of my comfort zone,” Aragon said about the first wreath-making class she taught at C and A Designs. But she enjoyed it and plans on doing a class there every season.
Aragon has also helped Danielle plan events and classes such as her hat burning classes, with the most recent one being at Indian Island Winery in Janesville last month.
“It’s fun to work with each other on the business side of things,” Aragon said about working with Danielle for C and A Designs. “We have become very established with each other.”
Activities for kids
C and A Designs offers many things for all ages, and one of the business’ key demographics is children, especially during the summertime.
They have a summer art camp during the first week of June, July and August, with the next one taking place from July 2-5 from 12-3 p.m. every day.
“Each day they get different projects they get to do,” Danielle said.
The camps also have the kids participate in games, receive a free t-shirt, and have a pizza party on the last day of the camp.
C and A Designs will be at the Waseca County Fair once again this year, with Charlie and Aidan selling their cups and crafts and Danielle offering to teach children how to make buttons.
Danielle taught children how to make signs last year at the fair, and she wanted to do something smaller so it would be more affordable for families. She also brought up how she likes doing little workshops at the fair since it lets moms and dads shop around the fair while their kids are making crafts.
Most Popular
Comments / 0