Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony and Elaina DiCola.
Anthony and Elaina, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My husband Tony DiCola started making beautiful wood and resin treasure boxes as gifts for family and friends. Many friends of our family and friends were requesting custom boxes, as well as signature live edge tables. We decided to make a business of it, and eventually joined a San Diego local artist store.
We were in the store for approximately two months before they closed their doors. We were so disappointed, as we loved the store and respected and appreciated the artists in the store and their beautiful work! We met with many of them, and asked them if they would be interested in joining us if we were to lease the space of the store, we were in. We personalized the name of the store by combining both of our last names. We opened DiTorr, and many of the pre-existing artists joined us! We put our heart and soul into our store, and business thereof daily. We love doing business with the 51 plus artists we currently have in DiTorr. It’s a wonderful community of people, and we are so proud and honored to be able to work with them all, and be a part of their success as artisan entrepreneurs.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road at all! We signed our lease in the beginning of march to open April 1st, then COVID-19 hit and prolonged our opening. We persevered through these times and were finally able to open May 30th with 19 artists to start with. We did not let this get us down we worked very hard to reach out to other artists to see if they would be interested in joining our team. Slowly but surely, they started coming in! Before we knew it, we had artists reaching out to us, from word of mouth from the other artists asking if we had space available!! it was actually amazing to see how the artists community comes together, and how tight they are in supporting one another. We now have 53 artists and are still growing.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We specialize in custom wood boxes and live edge tables as well as steam punk vintage lamps. this is what we are known for. We are hands on with all of our vendors and very personable with each one of them. we are always interested in what their point of view is, and welcome their input. What sets us apart is that we are artists as well and understand the struggles of speaking through your art. We have great integrity when it comes to having their business within our business.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
We see ourselves as well as the artist continuing to thrive as a lot of people are leaning towards shopping and supporting local artists.
Pricing:
- Our artists price their own work so it ranges from simple gifts from 5$ up to great artwork in the higher price range.
Contact Info:
- Address: 502 University Ave
San Diego CA 92103 - Website: Ditorrsd.com
- Phone: 6192305566
- Email: ditorrdesigns@gmail.com
- Instagram: @ditorrstore
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