CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine — When Christina Livada was little, she and her brother used to fight over who would get to wrap themselves up in their favorite blanket.
The light blue cotton blanket covered in white lambs belonged to Christina’s Mom, Beth LaSala, when she was a child. Beth and her sisters would also argue over who would get to snuggle up in the cozy piece of home.
Christina said her mom looked for another blanket to add to their collection over the years, but the quality was never the same. It led to a running joke between the two.
“Why can't we find a blanket like this? Someone needs to start a business,” Livada said laughing.
In 2006, that running joke became a reality. Beth decided to take a chance on their idea and launched the blanket line ChappyWrap. She would bring the luxury blankets to different maker markets and artisan fairs in New England. At first, the blankets grew in popularity by word of mouth.
“We started to see that on a small scale in those early years where we sort of knew that the product was resonating with people in the same way that it had for our family,” Livada said. “People were really falling in love with the product in the same way.”
Christina said she would help at these events when she could while she was in college. In 2018 she left behind a career in special education and pivoted towards helping her mom run ChappyWrap full-time.
The next year, the two launched into the ecommerce space, re-branded, and re-invented themselves for an online audience.
“She and I kind of always said, wouldn't it be fun someday to do this together? And, you know, seems like we're really kind of on to something.” Livada said.
A few years later, Christina’s husband Drake Livada came on board. He got his first look at Chappy Wrap’s popularity in 2012. He said he would tag along on weekends and help at the markets. Mostly, he did it so he could spend more time with Christina.
“I remember helping load the car. All these tubs and tubs and tubs of ChappyWrap’s. And, I remember thinking to myself, this lady's crazy. She's going to go sell all these blankets at this holiday show?” Drake Livada said. “Christina and I then left, came back later in the afternoon to help out and to break down the booth and, she had sold every single blanket, and at that point, I was like, she's on to something.”
The blankets are made of a durable cotton blend, and the designs are woven into them. The couple said they are manufactured in Germany because the equipment used to make them is not available in the United States.
As sales and production have grown so has the ChappyWrap employee roster. The company now employees 10 people, all of whom work remotely. Christina, Drake and Beth oversee production from their home offices in Cape Elizabeth.
When Christina had her first child in 2019, however, she managed her duties from a hospital bed.
“We relaunched the business like June 2 of 2019 and she was born June 20,” Livada said. “We brought her home from the hospital and it was my mom and I in our living room with the baby and the bouncer. She would come over and say, 'I'll sit with the baby while you work.'”
“It was those crazy early years of just kind of like, how do we get a business off the ground, just the two of us, during a really crazy time of life?” Livada said. “It was so much, but it was also, in retrospect, so cool to be able to do that with my mom.”
Over the years, ChappyWrap has partnered with the American Cancer Society, the Dana Farber Foundation, the Dempsey Center and more. Christina said its important to them to be able to give back and support missions close to their hearts. Last year, the brand was chosen for the Red Sox Foundation's "Picnic in the Park" and the blankets were given to every family in attendance.
"Supporting patients who are undergoing treatment has always been a huge part of our mission," Livada said. "What we want to do with our products because of just the comforting nature of them."
Right now, the blankets are only available to purchase online. However, the couple said if they do ever open a flagship store it will be in Maine.
