A boutique store opens to meet growing plant popularity and demand in Lexington, SC
One upside to the coronavirus pandemic for Elizabeth Williams of Lexington was that she finally had time to turn her passion for plants into a full-time job. It didn’t hurt that there’s been a huge rise in plant popularity the last few years.
“Everything is working out and it’s just so amazing COVID afforded me this opportunity,” said Williams.
Leaf Lover’s Plant Shop at 720 E. Main St. in Lexington opened this month after Williams said she gained the courage to turn her online and pop-up plant shop into a full-time, bricks-and-mortar store.
During the last few years, Williams said she noticed a rise in popularity for indoor plants and had more customers jumping on the trend recently. Since 2019, plant ownership has increased two percentage points to 66% in the U.S., according to civicscience.com.
A 2019 HuffPost article titled “Why millennials are suddenly so obsessed with houseplants” explained how younger people have turned to nurturing low-maintenance plants rather than pets or children.
American gardeners spent a record $52.3 billion on lawn and garden retail sales in 2018, with 18- to 34-year-olds spending a quarter of that, according to a 2019 National Gardening Survey.
Williams saw the trend in action with months of successful sales at the West Columbia Artisans Market. After running out of plants each week at the market, she thought her customers would follow her to a store. Her friend knew of a vacant space in the Rhoten’s Country Store building, so Williams jumped on it.
She gave up her job as a resource teacher at Brookland-Cayce High School to focus on raising her 3-year-old, 8-month-old and her hundreds of plants. William’s husband, Joshua, is a hydrogeologist, so she said they both enjoy learning about the science behind each different plant species and what makes them grow. For the past year, Williams used her passion to teach people about plants on her YouTube channel LeafLoverLiz.
Williams has a 20-foot-long greenhouse in her backyard that has more types of plants than she can count, she said. To meet demand, Williams said she often travels to Florida, a state rich with plant wholesalers, to stock her store.
Part of her business includes rehabbing plants for customers. If you have a dying plant, you can bring it in to Leaf Lover’s and Williams will keep and tend it under a greenhouse light in the shop until it comes back to health.
“With each new leaf that grows, I get so excited,” said Williams.
In the future, Williams said she will offer plant education classes for anyone interested in learning more about gardening or how to care for indoor plants.
At Leaf Lover’s, you can find anything from tomato or strawberry plants, to fiddle leaf fig trees and hanging, indoor plants. Williams sells pots and organic soil, as well as candles from a local artisan Seminole Candle Co.
Leaf Lover’s Plant Shop is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, but Williams plans on formally extending her hours soon so customers can stop by the shop after work. Appointments can be scheduled to visit the shop after hours.
This story was originally published March 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
