Bamboo Botanicals: The perfect place to pick up a plant

She’s been selling house plants for two-and-a-half years from a shop in a Runcorn garden centre and now in Warrington town centre.

Here, in our latest Trader of the Week feature, Kim tells us why she decided to set up her own business and how house plants can help boost your mood.

Kim Liu, owner of Bamboo Botanicals

What’s the name of the business?

Bamboo Botanicals

What’s the address?

Golden Square Shopping Centre

When did you open the business?

July 2020

Has it always been in the same location?

I originally opened a shop at Bridgewater Garden Centre in Runcorn. I opened a second store in Warrington in Hatters Row in September 2021. As the electric bills were doubling in January 2022, I unfortunately had to close the Runcorn shop as it wasn’t sustainable. I continued to run the Warrington business and moved to Golden Square in May.

Tell me a bit about your business

The business centres around indoor plants and we specialise in anything and everything to do with them. We can give you advice on how best to care for your plant, what kind of light they require, how often to water them, when they may need re-potting etc. We also sell specialist potting mixes, plant food, coir poles for tree climbing plants, plant themed gifts and decorative pots and baskets.

What do you do? What services do you provide?

Not only do we sell a wide variety of indoor plants, we also provide a plant care service where you can bring your plants in to us if they need re-potting or are looking unwell. We will try our best to get your plant healthy again. If you are buying a plant as a gift for someone, we will gift wrap your plant for free. It doesn’t matter if you are spending £2 or £200.

Bamboo Botanicals moved to Golden Square six months ago

Why did you decide to open your own business?

I was working for a company that didn’t treat their staff very well. My daughter contracted sepsis at just nine months old and I was treated terribly at work. It affected my mental health and I wanted to find another job. During the Covid-19 pandemic, as I was decorating my home, I struggled to find good quality house plants and I knew then that this was something I could do. I set up a Facebook page, ordered some stock and started selling! My first lot of plants sold within 24 hours and it got to a point where my house was turning into a jungle with stock. I made the decision then to find some premises and found the conservatory at the garden centre in Runcorn.

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What’s your business background?

I’ve always wanted to work for myself in a job that I love but never had the. I have a degree in Fine Art from MMU the job market in this field is very competitive. I’ve worked since I was 14 years old and never really had a job that I felt was suited to me until I started my own business.

Why this type of business?

I saw a gap in the market - houseplants are becoming more and more popular again. It’s lovely to see customers reminiscing about their parents having a particular one in the 70s and it takes them back to a different time in their lives. Indoor plants are known to help with mental health and purify the air in our homes. As I have struggled with my own mental health problems in the past, it seemed like the perfect sector to work in.

How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect your business?

I opened the business during the height of the pandemic. Sometimes in business you just need to be brave, work hard and never give up. I was lucky as the shop in Runcorn was allowed to remain open during the second and third lockdown. The business did struggle last Christmas due to the Omicron variant of Covid as most customers were choosing to stay at home. There was no financial support offered for retailers during this time.

There is a wide range of house plants available to suit all budgets

What makes your business different to others in the same area/field?

We have the knowledge. Yes, you can go to a supermarket or other big store that sells houseplants but most of the time the staff don’t know how to look after them properly and they aren’t kept in the right conditions with regards to heat and light. At Bamboo Botanicals, our location is away from draughts so the temperature is steady, we have a source of natural lighting but we also have grow lights up during the duller/darker days in order to keep the plants healthy. Our watering changes depending on the temperatures too. We also put all care instructions on pricing labels with the correct names of the plants.

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Why do loyal customers return to your business?

I think that it’s due to the service we give. We pride ourselves on our customer service and striving to be the ‘go to place’ for all plant needs. We’ve worked hard over the years to build the customer base and we are getting new customers every day.

Hanging indoor plants are popular

What do the next few months hold for you and your business?

We have signed a new 12-month contract with Golden Square. The Christmas stock has started to arrive including small potted trees, poinsettias and Christmas cactus as well as wreaths, Christmas pots and much more. We understand that times are tough for people so we have plants for all budgets

If you want to appear in our Trader of the Week feature, email heidi.summerfield@newsquest.co.uk