Shop Local: Los Angeles [A+R]

This is the second in our "Shop Local" series of posts, our first was the Detroit edition - today we're heading west! Last week we proudly shipped two huge boxes of brand new silk and microfiber ties in both standard, narrow and skinny widths (and some super special ones for Valentine's Day!) to one of our favorite shops, A+R in Los Angeles.

Michael and I were fortunate enough to be able to personally make a visit to A+R on Abbott Kinney when we were out there last September for a friend's wedding. (And our friends got some really sweet gifts as a result!) A+R was our lifesaver...and we sure wish it was more local to us...but fear not, they have a fantastic website stocked with all sorts of wonderful wares if you're not in the area...but if you are, by all means check them out. You won't be sorry! P.S. I want one of everything in there.



A+R - "Global design. Edited." is British ex-pat Andy Griffith, a former film editor and self-avowed design junkie, and Rose Apodaca, a pop culture and style journalist. A+R obsessively seeks out the newest products, aiming to offer them first.

"We love talking about the designers we find locally and from afar, because it only goes to show that this brilliant and bold community is not so much distinguished by geographic or cultural boundaries but bound by the pursuit of aesthetics and innovative ideas."

Don't feel like waiting by the post for online orders? Support these nifty shops local to you in the Los Angeles area:

A+R West 1121 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA 90291 Tuesday-Sunday 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

Rose Apodaca is a pop culture and style journalist and the co-owner of A+R, the design retail lab in Los Angeles. She contributes to Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Glamour, Paper, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, Style.com, Preen and other publications, and consulted on the launch of Image, The Los Angeles Times newest style section. Her first book, Style A to Zoe: The Art of Fashion, Beauty & Everything Glamour, an all-encompassing lifestyle guide written for celeb stylist Rachel Zoe, is now in paperback and hit The New York Times bestseller list in September 2008. She is currently wrapping up a biography on Fred Hayman, co-founder of Giorgio Beverly Hills and marketing architect of Rodeo Drive, as well as co-authoring a beauty book with neo-burlesque queen and style icon, Dita Von Teese. photo: PAPER Mag


Not only is shopping locally fun, it helps to protect local character and prosperity. Locally owned businesses build strong neighborhoods by sustaining communities, linking neighbors, and by contributing more to local causes. Your dollars spent in locally-owned businesses have three times the impact on your community as dollars spent at national chains. When shopping locally, you simultaneously create jobs, fund more city services through sales tax, invest in neighborhood improvement and promote community development.