New direction for home decor shop

ROLF BOONE

Turn on your TV one of these nights and you just might see the mother-and-daughter team of Lara Anderson and Kathy Lathrop pitching a new invention to a panel of investors on the show “Shark Tank.”

Anderson is the owner of downtown Olympia’s Red Door Interiors and Lathrop is her mother and longtime business partner.

Together the two have run the home decor business for the past six years, but recently have taken it in a new direction with a new product.

The new product is called RD Shady, a patent-pending interchangeable lamp shade cover that can be zipped up and around a lamp shade.

Lamps have always been a hot item at the store, finally kick starting an idea for lamp shade covers, they said.

The business now retails and wholesales a range of colorful, pattern-filled covers — manufactured in sew rooms in Portland and Seattle — that fit on three sizes of lamp shades also sold by the business.

Anderson has applied for a utility patent for the product and also is set to apply and attend an open casting call for the show “Shark Tank,” in which budding entrepreneurs pitch ideas to a panel of investors, including Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban.

RD Shady now represents about 20 percent of Red Door’s sales, Anderson said.

Anderson, 41, and Lathrop, 65, launched Red Door Interiors six years ago on Fourth Avenue, occupying a storefront in the Angelus building.

Three years later they moved the business to the corner of Washington Street and Fifth Avenue, relocating into a storefront with big windows and a central location.

“It’s a great corner,” Anderson said, adding that it resulted in increased customer traffic.

The same location also was once occupied by the short-lived Modern Bath and the well known Tea Lady.

The business is not just lamps, lamp shades and lamp shade covers. It also sells pillow covers, table runners, night light covers, original art, pottery and furniture, some of which has been painted in a signature red color. Prices range from $3 to $300.

Former Olympia City Councilmember Craig Ottavelli has shopped frequently at the store, calling it a “unique store with a great sense of style.”

On one occasion, he bought antique corner cabinets that were period-specific for his home, which was built in 1938.

It’s also in a good location because when his children shop at the toy store Wind Up Here, he can walk across the street and shop at Red Door, Ottavelli said.

“It’s the kind of business I want to shop at,” he said.

The business is set to have a “dress your lamp” party from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 29.

“We’re looking forward to a good holiday shopping season,” Anderson said, with Lathrop adding that the store is “loaded with inventory for gift giving.”

Red Door Interiors

Owner: Lara Lathrop Anderson.

Location: 430 Washington St. SE, Olympia.

Years in business: Six.

Service: Home decor retailer.

New product: RD Shady, interchangeable lamp shade covers.

Online: RedDoorOlympia.com and RDShady.com.

Hours: 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sundays. The business is closed Tuesdays.

Did you know? Lara Anderson is the owner of the business, but her longtime business partner is her mother, Kathy Lathrop. Anderson has a background in interior design, while Lathrop has worked in antiques and also hung wallpaper for 16 years in Thurston County. The two started in antiques but eventually the business evolved into a home decor business.

Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403 rboone@theolympian.com theolympian.com/bizblog @rolf_boone