Scarsdale New Business Spotlight: Parivara & Tu

SCARSDALE, NY — Our New Business Spotlight shines a light on local businesses you may not be aware of yet.

• Business: Parivara & Tu
• Owners: Pat Tammaro and Erica Antman
• Website: www.parivaratu.com
• Address: 39 Barford Lane, Scarsdale, NY 10583

1. When did your business open? In March 2016, we ventured to India where our idea was ignited and quickly began to unfold. In the ensuing four months after we returned to Scarsdale, we were able to further define the business and watch it evolve into a company that officially launched in August 2016.

2. How did you come up with the name? We chose Parivara to symbolize our company because the word means family in Hindi. The spark started with just a mother and daughter. Our desire was for this venture to embody the essence of family. It grew to encompass our dear friend in India who lovingly and skillfully navigated us through his beautiful country, the artisans we partner with, the orphanage we chose to support, and to all of you our loyal following. You help to make the family of Parivara — hence, "& Tu." Plus, we love the way it looked... aesthetics is everything!

3. Why start a business in this town? The Scarsdale area is an intricate part of our life, having lived here for 20 years. It would follow that the business would generate within the community that we feel so connected to. It’s only natural that our business would find its home base here just as our family did.

4. What business are you in? Our company provides eco-friendly products, including scarves, pillow cushions and weekender bags. We are a mother and daughter team who created a socially minded, environmentally conscious e-commerce company.

We work exclusively with artisans from Bagru, India. Bagru is known for its ancient, slow techniques in hand block printing and environmentally friendly methods. Block printing is an involved and intricate process that requires craftsmanship, skilled hands, patience and care making each product unique rendering it perfect in its imperfection

The company was founded on wanting to empower and awaken people to follow their dream. For us, our unspoken dream took form when we pursued the journey towards Parivara & Tu. Now, the core of the company is to embody and share the powerful message of following one’s passion.

5. What’s the most difficult challenge you face starting a new business? We’ve been very successful in the area of friends and family as well as friends of friends. We find that a difficult challenge is tapping into a larger market. We are continuously trying new marketing strategies in the hope to increase our visibility. We have learned that it takes work and patience but we have faith in our product, message and company. We have received slow steady positive interest from people outside our immediate circle that we believe will only grow with hard work.

6. What’s one highlight you’ve had since opening? If we had to pick one highlight, that would have to be the exhilaration we felt with our first sale. Once that first sale went through it made all of our ideas and work real. The next day we ended up getting two more orders and we were on a high! We spent that day packaging and celebrating. We popped some champagne (even though it was noon), made a toast, put on music, danced around, packaged our items and headed to the post office. It was a great day!

7. How does your business give back to the community? This venture led to a resurrection of a passion for environmentalism.

Watching the eco-friendly methods used in the production of our products and observing the organic process of their creation was powerful. It made us want to become active in the conservation of nature. As a result, we volunteered at the Greenburgh Nature Center, we were involved in Earth day and use our media channels to spread awareness.

We are also pleased that the production of our products in India provides a sustainable income for our artisan friends and their families and that a portion of the proceeds goes towards supporting an orphanage in India.