About Grape Cat

The story of the Grape Cat

The story behind the Grape Cat name started years ago when James Lucas had a small t-shirt business. At the time, James was into jazz and was painting quite a bit too. James was inspired by the music to come up with some t-shirt designs, so he started researching old jazz terminology. He found out that in the jazz age, you were a grape cat if you loved wine. James put it on a t-shirt for his wife Christine who loves wine! The design included the term and a clip art design of a cat because Christine also loves cats. When James and Christine were exploring names for their company, Grape Cat seemed like a good fit.

Grape Cat is in beautiful Bucks County, Pa., known for its rolling countryside, historic farms, and an active support of the vegan and animal rights communities. Starting with original James Lucas designs, Grape Cat has grown to be the largest online retailer of animal and environmentally friendly clothing, bags, and accessories for the whole family. Grape Cat prides itself on carrying eco-friendly, and U.S. made merchandise.

“Our customers are individuals who understand that the current mass-market production of clothing is not sustainable, and for those people who want to ensure they’re not buying into companies that exploit animals for profit,” James Lucas says. We stand for individuals who want to buy products that are more compassionate. “Fashion without Cruelty.” Grape Cat's donates a portion of sales to animal charities including Humane League, Rowdy Girl Animal Sanctuary, Indraloka Animal Sanctuary, and Brother Wolf Animal Sanctuary.

For James and Christine, Grape Cat stands for more than just a company name; it is a symbol of the freedom to choose a humane lifestyle in honor of animals everywhere, even meat eating cats, and an opportunity to educate people on the benefits of a plant-based buffet for life.

Making The World A Better Place For Animals, People, and The Environment.

About Owners James & Christine Lucas

James has been a graphic designer for over 18 years and an MBA in Marketing. He is a gifted artist whose work is mostly inspired by nature and music. James creates many of the t-shirts that are sold online at GrapeCat.com. He finds inspiration in his love of animals and his passion for delicious vegan recipes that he and his wife Christine enjoy creating together. Wanting to share their joy for vegan cooking and dining, James and Christine started Bucks County Vegan Supper Club in 2009. Members meet once a month for a vegan potluck dinner. The supper club is currently working through the Veganomicon cookbook, which inspires experienced and recent vegans to try new recipes. James is proud to support many businesses in his community and across the country by sharing their vegan lifestyle stories on his podcasts and blogs and by bringing products proudly “Made in the U.S.A.” to GrapeCat.com.

Christine has been in the bookselling and publishing industries for nearly 20 years. She started looking for alternative ways to ease her allergic symptoms when her asthma flared up several years ago. A family trip to Farm Sanctuary in 2008 helped her change her perspective on animals and food, opening her up to a vegan lifestyle. In addition to enjoying food, Arrested Development, traveling, and books, Chris is interested in decreasing her ecological footprint on the planet. In the spirit of Dr. Seuss’ Lorax, she “speaks for the trees, for the trees have no tongues”.

In 2009, Christine and James began Bucks County Vegan Supper Club out of their home in Pennsylvania. In 2011, James & Christine together with friends Lydia Grossov, and Mauro Reis, co-founded FromAtoVegan.com as a way to help inspire and motivate other people interested in adopting a plant-based lifestyle.

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Articles:

• Why we started Grape Cat
• What is a vegan?
• 7 Things About Vegans