We were lucky to catch up with Nolwenn Richard recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nolwenn, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I am originally from France. I moved to California with my family 5 years ago on a job assignment. When I moved to California, I could not find the floral aesthetics and experiences I loved so much in France, an organic, garden style, perfectly imperfect je ne sais quoi. During the pandemic, I took a floral design course to learn how to make my own flower arrangements, and bring that effortlessly chic Parisian touch to my home. What began as a hobby grew into a passion, and ultimately, a business. At the time, I also became acutely aware of something else that took me by surprise: That eighty (80) percent of the flowers sold at flower shops and in supermarkets are imported from all over the world, generating major carbon emissions—quite the opposite of the just-picked-from-the-garden, hyperlocal vibe I was missing from my native France.

In 2021, I founded CABANE (treehouse in French), a sustainable floral studio, to bring a uniquely French take on flowers to homes across California, guided by the belief that flowers are the simple, white tee equivalent of classic French home style. Based in Newport Beach, CA, we ship weekly, eco-chic seasonal bouquets, for special and everyday occasions, and by subscription, along with a collection of floral inspired home décor—so flowers can be part of my clients’ everyday—much like they are in France.
In addition, we offer wedding and event floral design services in Orange County, and one-of-a-kind collaborations with artists and designers.
Unlike most conventional florists, we are advocates for sustainable floristry practices and exclusively craft our bouquets with California and domestically-grown flowers, and sustainable materials, including the non-use of floral foam, or single-use plastic packaging.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Born and bred in France, I grew up in Brittany. My first job took me to Sydney, Australia, then London, UK, before settling down for a few years in Paris, then in Biarritz, known as the French California, and ultimately landing in Newport Beach, CA. I am married and I have 2 young children (fun fact: CABANE is an anagram of their names). I am a former Marketing Director and I have always naturally gravitated to flowers, art, fashion, and home decor.  For 10+ years, I worked with luxury beauty and lifestyle apparel brands before taking the entrepreneurial plunge and starting my own business 2 years ago.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think CABANE has a unique positioning in the floral market.

1. We have a unique French signature, products and story that appeal to customers looking for non traditional & stylish floral décor & gifts. We offer fresh flower bouquets but also dried bouquets, and floral-inspired products (candles, stationery, …)

2. We are fully committed to offering sustainable flowers. We exclusively craft our bouquets from California or US-grown flowers, all year long. This can be very tricky at times, especially in the winter months where there is a very low supply of local flowers. But we believe this is the right thing to do. In the winter months, we craft bouquets with branches, evergreen and perennial flowers. In the springtime we switch to fresh, vibrant, and more delicate flowers. We believe that every season is beautiful. Our customers really appreciate our commitment that sets us apart from the rest of the florists.

3. We are an online brand and offer flower delivery and subscription services statewide, across California. This is both convenient and fairly unique (somewhere between the traditional local florist and the larger, nationwide flower delivery services).

4. We thrive to offer top-notch customer service (I guess that’s a takeaway from my previous life working in the luxury industry). Every customer, every bouquet, every order is unique and we make sure to offer a memorable floral experience.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

CABANE is digital native brand, we don’t have a storefront and all our orders go through our website www.fromcabane.com

We address younger customers who don’t visit traditional flower shops and are looking for an enhanced shopping experience. We also want to serve both hyper-local audiences and flower lovers across all of California. Being a digital brand enables us to focus on story-telling and content creation. It also gives us a deep knowledge of our customers. This is also a way to manage our inventory and our waste more sustainably as we only buy fresh flowers against orders and don’t carry excess inventory.
One of the downsides of this strategy is that customer acquisition costs have skyrocketed in the past years and it’s getting harder to drive traffic to the stores. As a small emerging brand, it is our biggest challenge!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fromcabane.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fromcabane
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fromcabane

Image Credits
Violeta Myners