Meet the Owner

Carla Watkins, who moved to Lafayette in 1980 when Caterpillar came to town, received her bachelor’s degree from Ball State with a secondary degree in Fashion Marketing. Marrying her husband David right out of college changed her career path and has been in the same job ever since, managing administrative staff nationally for a large engineering software company.

When Two Tulips came for sale by the initial owners, Carla almost purchased it then, but with her 3, then very young boys, Taylor, Tanner and Treyton, managing their lives, a career and Two Tulips was not in the cards. When Cheryl contacted Carla in December of 2015, while still leading a busy life, as a family they decided to not let the store go for a second time as it has always been Carla’s dream to own a store just like Two Tulips.

Carla still works full time at her career and is not the daily face at the store, however she is heavily involved and helps makes most all the decisions of the day to day. The store’s focus and theme remain the same concentrating on baby’s, brides, piggy banks, stationary and fine gifts, but Carla love’s personalization and has heavily expanded into personalized gifts. Carla also has invested into and is always bringing in new lines to keep the store fresh with her own flare. 

Carla and David love to meet new people and pleasing every customer is the true goal. Spending a Saturday at the store together, seeing and making new friends is their idea of a perfect day.