¡Viva La Tienda! 30 Years of Food and Family

When we started La Tienda in our parents’ basement 30 years ago, Spain's incredible foods were little known across the U.S. Our father, Don Harris, was a Navy chaplain, and our family fell in love with Spain and the Spanish people when we were stationed in Rota in the 1970s. Our brother Chris was even born in Spain! The connection was so strong, our family spent the next 20 years traveling throughout the country, visiting cities and towns, and studying as students. 

Back in the U.S., we often prepared dishes we had grown to love in Spain: tortilla Española, pollo al ajillo, croquetas and, of course, paella! But we found it difficult to find authentic Spanish ingredients. 

In 1996, our family embarked on a mission to share our passion for all things Spanish through a company we named La Tienda, or "the shop."  And we had a stroke of incredible luck; a new way of shopping was just becoming popular - the Internet! Ecommerce was in its infancy. Just the year before, an online bookseller called Amazon was launched. We secured a web address, Tienda.com, and created a simple website to test the waters. Now shoppers could discover our tiny family business from anywhere. It’s hard to overstate how amazing this was! Without the internet we never could have afforded the marketing investment to reach our customers. 

At first, we offered a few iconic Spanish products like Cola Cao chocolate mix, Castille soap, piquillo peppers, paella rice and extra virgin olive oil. Spain's iconic jamón was not allowed in the U.S. at that point, so we posted a photo of a Serrano ham and asked visitors if they'd be interested. Hundreds of people responded! Our father, Don, would send an email newsletter every month updating our clients on our progress in bringing in jamón, along with essays about the Spanish culture he loved so much. This tradition of sharing monthly newsletters continues to this day. 

In the beginning, most of our customers were Spanish, often professionals with access to the Internet at work. They were hungry for a taste of home and were thrilled to find La Tienda. A few fellow Americans in the know discovered us as well, including military members and intrepid tourists, but when we started Spanish cuisine was relatively unknown. 

While we waited for jamón, customers also requested many other Spanish foods that they missed. Inspired by these suggestions, every year we traveled across Spain to seek out new products. Along the way, we met dozens of food artisans and built relationships that have lasted decades. Remarkably, we are now doing business with the children of some of those original partners. And the suggestions of our customers helped us discover more about Spanish food traditions than we ever thought possible!

When Spanish hams were finally allowed in 1998, the USDA was concerned about a little white mold on their surfaces and blocked the importation. Our father sprang into action! He bought a Smithfield country ham (coated in harmless white mold) from Virginia and drove it up to the inspector's office in Washington, D.C. Through perseverance, he was able to secure a meeting with the USDA inspector. As he pulled the Smithfield ham out of its box, he said; “If America’s iconic ham can have mold, why is Spanish ham any different?” Soon after, the first Jamón Serrano in modern history was available in the U.S.   

That year La Tienda became the first ecommerce company to sell Jamón Serrano in the U.S. We even had legs of jamón hanging in our family basement! Every day we would pack a few boxes of hams and other Spanish foods, then load them into a UPS truck that backed down the steep driveway to our garage door. 

Over the years, our collection of Spanish food and cookware has grown from a few dozen foods to over 600 products from over 80 producers. We long ago moved into a proper warehouse and have a great team of employees. This year we will ship packages to over 100,000 families across the U.S. Yet we are still awestruck at the richness of Spain's food heritage, and the hardworking families that safeguard these culinary traditions. Our father passed away in 2024, and it was so touching to see friends travel all the way from Spain to pay their respects.   

Over the years, every member of our family has worked to support La Tienda! Through it all, we have stayed committed to our values of community, quality and respect for our Spanish partners and our employees. Family members Jonathan, Tim, Ruth, Chris, Amy, Stacey, Rian, Sam, Ben, Cole and Anna Bell have all contributed to La Tienda's success. We brothers (Jonathan and Tim) run the company now, and our father Don's spirit of joy and generosity guides us every day. 

The beauty of Spain is in its people, in their deep sense of community, connection and pride of place. Since La Tienda’s early days, the people of Spain have welcomed our family into their homes and shared their traditions and tables with us. It is our privilege to work with them to bring the treasures of Spanish cuisine to your table and to share the welcoming and joyful spirit of Spain with you.