Krissy Gordin, Emily Prince, and Sara Zimmerman are the three co-owners behind the business.
Gordin said she and Prince are unofficially sisters-in-law after Gordin started dating Prince’s brother 11 years ago and the two women have talked for years about how they love house plants and grew up around plants.
“We started joking about if we opened up our own business and a couple months later the joke turned into reality,” Gordin said.
While they were launching their business in 2019, around the country house plant sales have been having their hey day. In 2019, the National Gardening Association reported over the past 3 years, U.S. sales of houseplants grew 50% to $1.7 billion.
A local plant and gardening group on Facebook called Gem City Gardening Gals alone has soared to more than 5,000 members and it’s not the only plant group in the region.
The local community of plant lovers is how the business came to have three co-owners.
When Bloomora’s online sales and Facebook demand grew beyond what two could handle, they teamed up with Zimmerman, who they had met through the local plant scene.
As the business grew they started working with local artists, like a pottery collaboration.
They hit some challenges along the way. The pandemic hit early in their start and Gordin said since her boyfriend has a progressive lung disease that they have all been very careful during — this is one of the reasons they’re requiring masks in the shop.
They’ve found ways to connect, such as a couple porch sales and they participated in Vintage in the Village festival a few months ago. Running an online business, the owners have gotten to know people’s names but it took events like Vintage in the Village to see people in person.
“It was a nice bridge for us between being online and then getting ready to open the store,” Gordin said.
Bloomora Botanicals is open Wednesday to Sunday and will be keeping their Facebook page updated at facebook.com/bloomorabotanicals.
With the Tipp City store, Gordin said they wanted to do something different that would have a place among existing plant shops.
She said shoppers will find an “eclectic weird” aesthetic, with houseplants, vinyl records, stickers and posters, local artists’ works, and pots and trellises.
Gordin said they have customers who have large houseplant collections, but the shop owners pride themselves on also being a space for newbies.
“We’ll help find the right type of plant for their plant expertise and that’s also a good match for their house,” Gordin said. “Because we know that every plant is going to survive and thrive differently in each person’s space.”
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