Words and photo by Tristan Ovington
Popular houseplant shop BotanicFolk has relocated to a trendy shipping container space in Brown Street, Salisbury. Charlie Gale, director and owner of BotanicFolk, explains the reasons for the move.
“There was a cost of living crisis which engulfed the country, causing the footfall for my business and other traders to fall. Electricity fees also rose, and I have a lot of perishable stock, so I decided to close my shop on Fisherton Street.
“I then met an investor, Amanda Newbury, who owns Brown Street. She invited me to join her team at Brown Street, and we have now made a lot of exciting plans for spring. There is a garden space and event space at Brown Street and over the winter, we are hoping to do artisan markets with bands playing and other activities.”
The space presents many opportunities. “This evolving space will change significantly over time as there is plenty of scope for opportunity. There will hopefully be festive markets in the lead-up to Christmas based here in the courtyard at Brown Street. And the event space will be the larger location for our terrarium workshops.”
When reflecting on how customers have responded to the move, Charlie says: “They appreciate that they can still come to buy plants from us. We are also designing merchandise, such as bags, temporary tattoos, and mugs.”
But that’s not all Charlie offers. “We also offer a repotting service where people bring their plants along so I can make them all healthy again. People like someone to do the repotting for them as they are often nervous to do it themselves – people really care about their plant babies.
“I remove the old soil, rinse the roots and place new soil in the pot. The look on their faces when they know their plant is made as good as new makes it all worthwhile.
“We also offer an online click-and-collect service and local hand delivery.
“I am excited about moving BotanicFolk to Brown Street and am looking forward to all the events we will have here that the previous location was too small to support.
“Christmas will be big for us and I can’t wait to provide people with new plants to gift to their loved ones over the festive season.”
botanicfolk.co.uk