COVER STORY

Budding Business

Lilla Bello’s Bloom Boxes are a big hit

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

Toby Kassoy had a rough 2020 with her Santa Monica boutique floral and event styling firm Lilla Bello. She was contracted to decorate rooms with lilacs, tulips, roses, lilies and other beauties, but the virus was preparing to annihilate 16 years of hard work.

“The bulk of our business was weddings and events,” she said. “Within two weeks of COVID, the whole year was canceled. That was really hard on us. I had a moment where I thought, ‘Oh my God. What’s going to happen?’” A longtime Santa Monica resident, Kassoy gathered herself and pivoted the firm, which is based in ArtStation. She teamed up with friends who own farms and created Bloom Boxes. Delivery in Los Angeles is available on Wednesdays or as a single gift. “When COVID hit, we were paralyzed for a couple weeks,” she said. “In that two weeks, we heard about local farms who, at that time of year, were at the height of spring cuts. The local farmers were dumping their crops. They couldn’t get products to consumers. It was a disaster.” Farms, she explained, stagger their cuts throughout the year in a “massive” timing effort. “It was a domino effect that has on the farming community,” Kassoy said. “We started reaching out to the local farmers and tried to figure out ways to get their products directly to us.

“That’s what inspired Bloom Boxes. The whole theory was to get fresh flowers back into the homes of people and give flowers to people again.”

The boxes include instructions for conditioning the flowers and link to an instructional video for arranging flowers. The prices start at $72.25 per week at Lilla Bello, which means “beautiful lilac” in Italian. Soon, Kassoy had to expand to floral farms throughout the Lilla Bello’s Bloom Boxes with fresh flowers are available for delivery in Los Angeles and make great gifts. world so she could meet her dead,” she added. “Each flower us. I actually wave my hand or Bloom Boxes beyond the customers’ needs. Peonies are is different, but we cut the stems say hello louder than I would pandemic. She said they make only available throughout the and lower-level stems off. Lilacs have normally.” the perfect gift for Mother’s Day East Coast and Oregon, while have branchy, woody stems. With events slowing emerging, because consumers have really others are imported from There’s a technique to condi- Kassoy is planning to keep connected with them. Holland and Israel. tioning those. You cut the stems

Bloom Box flowers aren’t at the bottom at an angle and up perfect, she added. The flowers the stems. They hydrate and aren’t cleaned or trimmed. draw water into these beautiful Kassoy called the service an blooms.” at-home project that everybody These flowers provide an can do. Add-on services include emotional self-care response. clean stems. For a half hour to an hour, “If they don’t want to get their consumers open the box of hands dirty or it’s not their jam, flowers, watch videos and we’ll do it for them,” Kassoy unwind. said. “They’re a massive stress relief “Very few people want us to do for people,” Kassoy said. “Even that. They’re super into it. They now, as the pandemic effects want to see dirt and peel the lessen, it’s a wonderful concept. leaves off. We also have, in our “We’re definitely becoming store, an introductory tool kit for more mindful. I think what our budding floral designers.” happens naturally, during any Most people, she added, do not crisis or pandemic, people realize that when she receives become more award of one flowers from farms, they’re another. People wear masks and dirty, rubber banded together make eye contact to say hello. and poorly hydrated. We’re more conscious about Lilla Bello is a boutique florist in Santa Monica that was

“Tulips, for example, look half connecting with people around founded by Toby Kassoy.