Our guests today are Mia and Rob Sandberg, husband and wife, and a dynamic duo of entrepreneurship! Mia is the proprietor of Root Floral on Jefferson Street in Downtown Lafayette, 810 Jefferson Street. The shop is open Tuesday – Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. unless an event taking place.. Her company specializes in providing floral arrangements for events, weddings, and everyday flowers. They offer a subscription service where you can sign up to give periodical gifts of flowers to that special someone. Open for walk-in arrangements, Root Floral's stock varies from day to day, so Mia advises people to order online or call ahead if they can. Big events like weddings can affect the in-store supply so it’s best to place an order well in advance. Rob is the proprietor of Lucia, a bakery that offers not only delicious pastries but baked goods that offer a feast for the eyes! One look at their website will have you running to Lucia, located at 607 Kaliste Saloom Road. Lucia started out as a small batch, from-scratch bakery that began doing popups in our downtown area in late 2020, selling brioche-stuffed donuts (bombolonis) and then slowly began adding laminated pastries to the rotational menu. Lucia now concentrates on viennoise-style baking, a form of pastry made famous in France with origins in Vienna. Mia proudly shares the expansion of her online event collections, which now includes 21 color palettes to choose from. This is a great option for a bride who just needs basic items or those who don’t want to go through the whole process of meeting. These collections can be used for bridal showers, baby showers, Christmas parties, or any special occasion. It’s also a great way for clients on a budget to order flower arrangements. For clients worried about costs, Mia says that Root Floral will work with clients on a budget to help them achieve a beautiful arrangement for their special day. She explains that for pricing, they “price everything out by the stem” and “use a system called curate”. This is helpful for adjusting the number and types of flowers based on a client’s budget. Mia graduated from the UL-Lafayette with a degree in interior design in 2008. She is passionate about color, texture and proportions, which she says helps her now in making her floral arrangements. After graduating, she took various jobs in product design and interior design in Dallas, Texas. She also was a waitress as Toulouse, the same restaurant Rob worked as a pastry chef. When the couple moved back to Lafayette in 2012, Rob was the one who suggested she open a flower shop. So, she began creating and sharing her creations inside of a small portable storage building at her parent's house in Cecilia. For a year she says she was “sending arrangements to as many businesses as I could”, like Carpe Diem or Kiki, to promote her work. She attributes good photography, Facebook, and her unique arrangements for her success. In the beginning she says, “there was lots of spray paint”. Within a year, she outgrew that location and moved to downtown Lafayette. Now she continues to provide beautiful flowers for events across Lafayette. It is an understatement to say that her company began to flourish; Root Floral has even been written up in Martha Stewart Living! Lucía, a boulangerie and viennoiserie located at 607 Kaliste Saloom Road near St. Pius was opened by Rob Sandberg in 2021. He began in the bakery business by doing popups and later selling pastries at the Moncus Park farmer’s market where his brother Ruben Sandberg came on board. Lucía sold out each Saturday for about 2 years before Lucia opened on Kaliste Saloom. Rob says in the early days, he and Mia converted their sunroom into a bakery where their were frying donuts and making custards. Pastries and floral bouquets showcased at Lucia Mother's Day weekend 2024. A wonderful partnership between Mia and Rob Sandberg. ...
