Botanicals and beyond

With such high demand for houseplants over the past few years, new stores have been popping up to fill the need for indoor plants and supplies. To stand out from the crowd, many are stocking unique, local, plant accessories, botanical-themed gifts and more to keep customers coming back.

“We are actually in a super dense area for houseplant stores,” says Johanna Dominguez says, owner of Put A Plant On It in Buffalo, New York, noting that there are eight shops near her that also sell strictly houseplants. “So it’s a challenge to come up with something that’s different.”

At Rooted Plant World in London, Ontario, accessory sales have been on the rise since they opened a few years ago. The sales mix between plants and accessories has risen from about 75% plants/25% accessories to about half and half. “It has definitely increased and that helps with the brick-and-mortar since I can bring in other items,” says owner Tracy Root, who originally started her store online.

Service on demand

Put A Plant On It, which got its start in August 2020, has found a niche by offering all kinds of services from houseplant sitting to disease diagnosis to interior plantscaping. Most of the unique offerings came about by listening to what customers want.

Before opening her own store, Dominguez worked at a nursery where the two most common requests were for repotting services and plant diagnoses. Now, Put A Plant On It offers potting with DIY and full-service options, as well as a Houseplant Hospital.

Due to concerns of diseases and pests spreading, Dominguez’s former employer wouldn’t allow customers to bring plants in, but she says Put A Plant On It hasn’t had any issues. “We’ve been doing this for three years and honestly, most of the issues we see are not contagious at all,” Dominguez says. “Out of the hundreds of Houseplant Hospital appointments we do every year, maybe two or three are pests. But most of it is all over potting or some sort of fungal issue, which isn't really contagious.”

And it’s filling a strong need. Customers used to send Facebook or Instagram messages with photos of plant problems, but oftentimes, Dominguez couldn’t tell what was wrong just from a picture. So she starting asking customers to bring their plants into the store. Customers can even book their appointments online now.

“At first, I was a little hesitant to charge people for it,” Dominguez says, noting that she originally offered the service for free. “But it was taking up so much time and labor that we ended up starting to charge for it. And 99.9% of people are not averse to it.”

Now, Put A Plant On It charges $20 to diagnose small plants, $30 for large plants and a $5 fee for an insecticide, fungicide or fertilizer.

And for monsteras that are looking less than their best, Put A Plant On It offers a Monstera Makeover service. Customers can either bring their plants into the store or have someone come to their home to clean them up, and train them to look more upright and contained. Prices begin at $15 with additional charges for materials like Velcro, stakes and soil.

“That was another customer need,” Dominguez says. “People would bring monsteras in, but they didn’t need a repotting and it wasn’t a Houseplant Hospital issue, so we came up with Monstera Makeovers.”

And for those who need a little extra help getting started, Put A Plant On It staff will also go to customers’ homes to offer placement and design recommendations. They have started to do more design projects in recent months, even branching out to serve different commercial clients.

Keeping it local

Rooted Plant World carries some products from the U.S. and elsewhere, but Root tries to keep it local to support artists and artisans in her community. But no matter what, she’s looking for small businesses to support.

Put A Plant On It has a similar mission and carries products from more than 100 local artists, almost all of whom work within 30 miles of Buffalo. Dominguez not only likes supporting her community, but her customers also appreciate it. Plus, it gives customers options they can’t find at larger stores.

“They’re supporting four or five people when they buy something here as opposed to a big-box store or something like that,” she says. “The artists are able to [support] their families or their kids through their art, and it makes them feel very validated in their art.”

Oftentimes, Dominguez or customers will take photos of their purchases in the store, and then tag the artists on social media to give them a signal boost. “The artists, especially pottery artists, like seeing their stuff being used.”

Accessories have also helped Rooted Plant World stand out from the crowd, especially with homemade plant stands from Root’s husband, Leif. Root was about to sign the lease for Rooted Plant World, but COVID threw a wrench into her plans for a brick-and-mortar store. So she pivoted and opened an online store to begin, eventually moving to a physical location in London, Ontario.

Leif was also stuck at home due to COVID, so he started making plant stands in all different shapes from monstera leaves to paw prints to guitars and even sports themes. “There’s everything just to catch the eye,” Root says. “Just because you’re a plant-lover doesn’t mean that you don’t like other things, too.”

Rooted Plant World also offers custom shelves to fit corners, walls and specific themes. And they’re all made with non-toxic paints, stains and varnishes in keeping with the company’s values. “We love nature, so we focus on the health and the environmental benefits of plants. We don’t want customers breathing in all the chemicals when you have these wood products in your house,” Root says.