Moving Acadiana Forward: Magnolia Pantry

Danielle Duncan
·2 min read

(KLFY)– One Acadiana announced Magnolia Pantry, a new local business where people can grab a bite and refreshing beverage, as the winner of their small business challenge.

The winners received $100,000 and a lease to an historic building in Downtown Lafayette. Magnolia Pantry is coming to the historic San Souci space downtown.

The new joint effort is a merger between Magnolia Moon Herbals owned by Alexis Badon and Acadiana Slice Pies by Corey Champagne.

“Lot of the stuff I grow myself or purchase organically, I have everything from pop sicles, snow cones,” Badon said.

“From sweet things like strawberry pies to traditional meat pies and pepper jack pies,” Champagne said referring to Acadiana Slice Pies.

They first met at a local farmers market, where every Saturday they would sell their homemade specialties  next to each other attracting the same customers.

“We’ve even had people come up and ask us if our products can be catered together,” Badon said. “It came together really naturally.”

Troy Waymen, president for One Acadiana, said the collaboration  was a perfect fit for the One Acadiana small business challenge.

Magnolia Pantry was one of 33 participants of the challenge, vying for the grand prize of $100,000 and a lease for the historic San Souci building.

“There were a number of training courses,” Waymen said. “The great news is magnolia pantry has a great idea. They have both drinks and food. It’s very inclusive.”

Badon and Champagne said the opportunity aligned with the vision for Magnolia Pantry.

The space promotes the preservation of historic buildings in Downtown Lafayette while attracting customers to eat and shop local.

“We want people to come grab somethings but be on their way downtown,” Champagne said. “We did not want to be a sit down restaurant, but we want them to support a local business and then go back out into the downtown area.”

Badon and Champagne hope to be in the space by the end of the year.

Their plan is to continue selling their product at the farmers market to serve as a second location.

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