About
The story behind Mandalina started with a dream and a vision from the founder and Turkish native, Cagla Schaffer. With hope in her heart and a love for quirky wildflowers and Mediterranean vibes, Cagla bid farewell to her tech job to work in an Oakland based flower shop and then started her very own floral company. She finds an immense amount of inspiration from talking with her clients and hearing their fresh and innovative ideas. Cagla loves partnering with local businesses, especially other women-owned brands, to help beautify their spaces and bring extra sunshine to their days.
Mandalina reminds me of peace, joy, hard work, relationships, persistence, life, and death. The same as flowers and plants… That’s why I’m fascinated by the quirky world of floral design and excited to welcome you into this world as well.
Interested in working together? Let’s craft the arrangements for your next event, office space, or wedding with the best seasonal flowers and plants!
The Story
mandalina (man-dah-lina): 1. Mandarin, tangerine in Turkish. 2. Summer sun, family, and peace for me.
It sounds strange that the word mandalina reminds me of the summer sun, although it’s actually a winter fruit. As a kid, I spent my summers in Izmir, Turkey where my grandparents, aunts, and cousins lived. We spent so much time at my grandparents’ 4-story house, making awesome memories together.
My grandfather was a retired teacher and a small shop owner, selling everything from cheese to Advil and whatever else the neighborhood needed. My grandmother was his biggest helper and community builder who turned the shop front into (almost) a small café.
My grandparents had a mandalina tree in front of the shop. This is where neighbors and their kids had Turkish coffee (yes, kids were allowed to have coffee), played, and laughed. My grandfather was so in love with his mandalina tree that he wouldn’t let anyone eat from it. “The fruit made the tree look beautiful,” he would say.
Since it was so hot in Izmir during the summer, my grandfather wouldn’t go home at night but instead slept on a little bed under his mandalina tree. Luckily, he did eventually let us eat some of those mandalinas. After he passed away, the land where the shop had been was sold to a construction company that would go on to build four 15-story buildings right next to the old mandalina tree. To this day, that’s the only tree left on the land.