Our story
Built on a love for local
A love for local, made real
Found & Made comes from Luke Merickel and a genuine love for local producers: the roasters, potters, bakers, and makers who put real care into what they sell and know the people they sell to.
He studied Business Administration with an Entrepreneurship focus at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The idea that became Found & Made started there, as a senior project called Box Local. Two real boxes went out the door to real customers, folded and filled by hand from start to finish.
Box Local proved the model in a small college town. Found & Made is that same idea, given a real brand and pointed at Los Angeles, a city full of people making things worth finding.
The problem
Everyday buying got swallowed by the churn
So much of gifting and everyday buying now runs through a handful of giants. Cheap, forgettable goods flood in, and the small maker on the corner gets drowned out because they cannot compete on price or ad budget.
The money leaves the community, the quality drops, and the people who give a neighborhood its character never get seen.
What we do differently
A box that is good for everyone it touches
Found & Made pushes the other direction. We hand pick a themed box of standout local goods, package it with care, give a share of every sale back to the community, and get it to the door.
The buyer gets something with a story. The makers get exposure and a potential lifetime customer. The neighborhood gets a little stronger. We lean toward independent businesses and away from mass market goods, and we keep the door open to every kind of maker.
The long view
Los Angeles is chapter one
The model is built to travel. One theme, one neighborhood, one set of makers becomes a template. The plan is to repeat it across Los Angeles first, then look toward other cities where there are great local makers and people who want to support them. We are taking it one steady step at a time.