A new, yet familiar, business is coming downtown to Eaton Place

Why would someone open a plant business when they already have one?

Let Heather Giesen explain.

The founder of Grow Giesen Plant Shop, which is at Fidelity Bank’s Rise Car Park downtown, is opening what she calls the design leg of her business.

Planterior, which will be a half mile away in Eaton Place at Douglas and St. Francis across from Naftzger Park, will be its own business and have a showroom, a shop and a plant design installation side of the company.

“It’s really connecting our community and individuals back to nature,” Giesen said.

She said Grow is about being a retail store with a do-it-yourself plant bar along with a coffee and bar experience.

Giesen said she sees Planterior “as a beautiful addition to our current company.”

“It just made sense. Retail and bar have really high highs and really low lows.”

A lot of her business at Grow depends on the time of year, among other factors.

Giesen said Grow is an interactive experience, with customers sipping coffee or cocktails while they shop or do DIY projects.

“We really cater to fun and lifestyle products.”

At Eaton Place, Planterior will have its own Douglas storefront but also be connected to Janelle King’s new Workroom space and King’s incubator space, both of which have been at First and Cleveland.

That happens to be where Grow got its start in 2020.

Giesen said this “is kind of a full-circle moment for me” being back by King. Planterior also will be near vendors that King plans to have at her new Ballroom Collective.

All of the businesses will be open by June.

“It’s nice to be around your colleagues and mentors and just be able to all vibe together in that business community,” Giesen said.

Part of that vibe will include Taylor Haas, the founder of Farmhand Flower Co., who will stock Planterior with flowers during the growing season, from about April through October.

Giesen said though there sometimes will be live flowers, Planterior still will be more of a plant shop.

Planterior already has design clients, including Giesen’s first with neighboring restaurant Lotte, also at Rise.

She, her husband, Slade Giesen, and Planterior designer Hannah Critchlow will do installations.

Customers can visit the Planterior showroom to see a living plant wall and several moss wall elements so they can understand what can be done with plants.

The no-maintenance moss walls, like the one at Lotte, aren’t alive, but Giesen said they offer “that feeling of alive and greenness.”

“There’s such a disconnect anymore,” she said. “We’re so go, go, go that we don’t take that time to really slow down and connect back . . . to nature.”

Like Grow, Planterior will offer vases and other products that fit the design business.

However, Giesen said, “I will be differing my inventory inside of this shop.”

While Grow has lots of color and neon, Planterior will have more black and white and, of course, green.

Giesen said the business has a biophilic focus, which is about seeking connection with nature.

Whether it’s homes, businesses or new commercial builds, Giesen said it’s all about “just creating a greener Wichita.”

This story was originally published March 14, 2024 at 4:04 AM.