New online store dedicated to Latino home furnishings

Pine Island, NY — Sofia Gottfried recently launched Ulalas.com, an online style store of Latino-sourced furnishings. Named for the ulalas cactus that grows wild in South America, the venture began when Gottfried, whose family is originally from Colombia, could find no store focused exclusively on Latino-made products.

“Ulalas.com is the first store to bring together handcrafted products from different Hispanic cultures—all under one umbrella," said Gottfried, a former product developer. The site currently features pieces from nine Latin countries but Gottfried plans to eventually include items from all 33. The Ulalas collection includes handcrafted sustainable tableware, linens, ceramics, art, and accessories that can mix with a variety of home décor styles.

Best sellers include La Chamba pottery, are dishes formed from black clay dug near Colombia’s Magdalena River that go from oven to microwave to tabletop. “La Chamba pottery is a great example of Latino ingenuity,” Gottfried said. “They are so versatile, yet they are made just as they were thousands of years ago, from black clay—the oldest clay in the world.” Hand-painted papier mache servingware and Guatemalan hand-embroidered pillows, each a collaborative work by women weavers of Panajachel, San Antonio Palopo, and Guatemala City, are also favorites.

Gottfried says there is no rhyme or reason to how she chooses items other than the common thread of the Latino culture. “I’ve always treasured my roots and had a sense of pride in things made in those parts of the world,” she says. “I like it when something has oomph!, and I like it when no two pieces are the same. But in the end, I simply choose handcrafts that speak to me.”