Online plant venture becomes brick-and-mortar shop

After starting last year as an e-commerce business selling plants and seeds, the owner of City’s Edge Botanicals LLC has opened her first brick-and-mortar shop.

“I’m just kind of rebranding a little bit so that people realize it’s me,” said Emma Fear of The Plant Room by City’s Edge Botanicals, which opened June 1 at 1349 S. Glenstone Ave., Ste. H. “It’s kind of like a boutique plant shop.”

The shop fills about 900 square feet in space formerly used by Homewrecker Vintage LLC, which is next door, Fear said. She currently subleases the space for undisclosed terms from Homewrecker Vintage owner Lia Latham, who agreed to remove the vintage wedding dresses she previously sold there.

Startup costs were around $10,000, Fear said, adding her husband, Brandon, uses some of the shop’s backroom space for growing microgreens. Through Springfield Microgreens LLC, he sells the vegetables to companies including MaMa Jean’s Natural Foods Market LLC and Gilardi’s Ristorante, she said.

Fear is the lone employee at The Plant Room, which sells common to rare and exotic plants. She said common varieties include pothos, spider plants, cacti and begonias. Philodendrons, hoyas and monsteras are among rare plants sold at the shop, which also carries seeds, macrame and pots. Future plans are to add plant mounting classes and a potting station, she said.

Fear originally started her venture last summer as City’s Edge Seed Co. but transitioned in September to City’s Edge Botanicals after becoming more involved in growing houseplants.

“I really got interested in them and was having a lot of fun learning how to root them,” she said, noting she sold plants on Etsy and Shopify.

However, the plants eventually occupied about 600 square feet in Fear’s home and the couple realized they needed a shop.

“This is taking over our house. We can’t do this anymore,” she said. “We’ve got a 2-year-old and she’s got to have room to play.”