Throughout her life, Andrea Rincon has been followed by three numbers: four, zero and one.
She spent her childhood with her mother in Colombia in apartment 410, and when she moved from Colombia to Easton, she moved into apartment 401. Now, almost 16 years later, she’s opened her own independent business venture on one of Easton’s main streets, and the middle digits of her business’ phone number are “401.”
After spending many years building and managing another similarly Colombian-minded Easton small business, Rincon decided it was time to branch out and develop her own place. To begin, she took a trip home to Colombia.
“I started to visit shops and designers and … that’s kind of when I knew that I wanted to bring to Easton some of these fantastic pieces and show the world these amazing artists that not everybody gets to see,” Rincon said.
Casa 401, which opened earlier this August, is what Rincon and her husband call a “concept store,” where a business is focused on a carefully-curated array of products. At Casa 401, every item you find was made by a Colombian artist, brand or designer, allowing customers to browse clothing, accessories, homeware, keychains and stickers – all entirely Colombian-made.
“I knew I wanted [my business] to be focused and I wanted it to be solid … I didn’t want to open up a business to just sell ‘stuff,’” Rincon said. “I wanted to follow my values and create something that really aligned with what I believe in.”
To Rincon and her family, it was also important that their sustainable values were reflected in the mission of the store.
“We’re trying to promote conscious shopping … so a lot of the pieces that you’re going to find in the store were made in small batches, using local materials and made in small shops,” Rincon said. “We’re really trying to create a positive impact rather than a negative impact on the environment.”
“The younger generations are the ones who are going to start [making] these really conscious decisions about what they do with their money, how they’re spending it and how they support their local community,” she continued. “One of our mottos is to buy less and for things to last longer.”
While Casa 401’s sustainable mission and collaboration with well-established designers have led to some higher prices within the store, Rincon assures locals that the store has high-quality products for a wide range of budgets.
“I always encourage people to look at everything we have,” Rincon said. “We work with different artists and different designers and people who are at different stages in their professional career and we try to offer a little bit of everything.”
Those browsing the store are also invited to enjoy a select menu specifically curated by Rincon and her husband at the adjoining “Queso at Casa,” featuring French baguettes, guava crepes and raclette, a traditional Swiss dish of melted cheese.
“We did a lot of modern twists,” Rincon said. “And being from Latin America, we added some of our own flavors to it.”
Kim Kmetz, manager of the Easton Main Street Initiative, agrees that Rincon and Casa 401 are excellent additions to Easton’s thriving business sector.
“When we’re talking to people who are coming here we try to find out ‘What are we missing?’ or ‘What would you like to see here?’ and women’s clothing and accessories is often at the top of that list,” Kmetz said. “She’s a super positive, super outgoing, really sharp young woman, so we’re happy to have her here.”
Casa 401 is located at 16 N 3rd St. For more information visit casa401.com.
