Kelowna's plant haven where exotic plants and the community meet
Walking into Plant Gather immediately engulfs one in the smell of a jungle's thick humidity. It's a calming, therapeutic and unique experience and it's what this exotic plant store in Kelowna has come to be known for.
Plant Gather opened on Sept. 17, 2022, and the house plant store is one of the only ones in the Interior to sell exotic plants from South America and Asia. When the business first opened, the exotic plants seemed to be the star of the show, but now it's the education and the feeling of community that makes the store unique.
"The main thing that keeps us going is the community aspect. There are so many people that come in daily that are just having a bad day and they just need plant therapy and as soon as they walk in they feel at peace," owner Matt Groening says. "People can just come in here, leave their worries at the door and just enjoy the space."
When the business was first launched, the idea was to create a jungle-like space and sell exotic plants. He was thinking the plants would be the main attraction because no other store in the BC Interior sells exotics.
He said you can get a house plant at any grocery story so he wanted to be different. Turns out the rare exotic plants weren't big sellers.
"People were driving from all over the Interior to check us out because there's nothing like this shop in the Interior. We import from Ecuador, Thailand and Indonesia so there's a lot of very cool exotic stuff that you can't really find in any other plant centre," Groening says.
"But, as it turns out, it's a very, very select niche of people that are plant collectors and that are willing to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on plants, so we still have them, we propagate them a lot, we do small imports here and there still for specialty orders and what not, but now our main thing is just regular house plants."
What keeps bringing customers back to Plant Gather is the educational aspect of the business. Many first-time house plant buyers come in, but also plant killers trying to redeem themselves.
Groening loves to take time and educate his clients on how to take care of a plant and help them pick out the plants that might best suit their lifestyle.
"Most of our customers will come in and say 'Hey, I've never owned a house plant' or 'I have a few house plants but I have a black thumb and I always kill them,' so we'll educate them to the point where they'll buy a plant from us and months later it's still alive," he says.
He offers workshops and customers can learn just about everything they need to know about being a plant owner.
"We have a terrarium-building workshop which is quite popular and a house plant care 101 workshop and that one is also quite popular because we literally teach you everything you need to know about houseplants," he says.
They also provide indoor landscaping services for multiple businesses in Kelowna, so you might have seen their plants at a restaurant or even at your dentist's office.
Groening's favourite aspect of the business remains the connection he can make with the people who walk in.
To him owning a business is a bigger responsibility than just making sure it can stay up and running, and that's why he's partnered with Kelowna's Gospel Mission and works with organizations like Mamas for Mamas and Paws it Forward.
"When I opened the business I told myself that I didn't want to just make money and get a big house, I wanted to be a big pillar and staple of the community that is here to serve the community and all its inhabitants," he says.
Plant Gather has also become a space for people who need a break or even just to hang out and talk. Groening is very transparent about his own mental health struggles which has brought many people to find a trusting figure in him on top of finding comfort in the space.
"I have people come in and confide in me and open up to me often and sometimes people will just start crying, whether they're happy or sad tears, people just feel vulnerable and at peace in this space and it's also because I like to share my own experience about mental health struggles and people just love the space and the authenticity."
For more information on the plants that are sold there and the workshops visit the Plant Gather website here and find them here on social media. Plant Gather can be found at 1111 Gordon Dr. in Kelowna.
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