Plantaholics- an indoor plants and accessories store- opens in Romsey in front of Cedar Nursery

An ex-retail manager has opened a plant shop selling exotic and indoor plants that you wouldn’t normally find in a general garden centre.

Plantaholics, situated in front of Cedar Nursery in Romsey, opened on Saturday, July 16.

Business owner, David Head, from Eastleigh made the switch to horticulture as a plant lover who was looking to reduce work-related stress.

David, 37, said: “I’m hoping that it will be successful, get a good following and I’m hoping to expand in the future.

“The response has been amazing; we’ve got quite a lot of online followers who have done a lot of Instagram and Facebook posts which have had some really good results. People seem to want to support independent businesses.”

The building was previously home to Pureheat Stoves & Fireplaces. Before stock could be move in, the unit had to repaired, with holes in the roof and new flooring required.

The space is now fitted with a large wooden desk, forest green walls and leaf print accessories.

Following a long career in retail management, David has now been involved with horticulture for roughly six years. The Plantaholics owner studied alongside his retail management job to gain scientific expertise before accepting a job at Cedar Nursery, which he then managed for four years until October 2021.

The shop owner said: “My retail job was quite stressful, I looked after a really high turnover branch but I also liaised with 20 other store managers in the area that we were in.

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“I was doing paperwork from 7 o’clock in the morning until 10 o’clock at night, six days a week and it was very stressful. I enjoyed my work but it starts to affect your relationships.

“I’d always loved plants but never knew enough about them to make it my job. So I did the long distance learning to have a scientific understanding of plants and made the jump. It was a real gamble because it’s a lot less money from retail management to just being a horticultural assistant but actually it’s paid off.”

David added: “I thought Cedar Nursery at Romsey was the perfect place as I had a really good customer data base from when I ran the nursery. So, I thought coming back here would be a good move.”

David hopes to hire another member of staff in the new year, with the plan to eventually expand the business, selling a larger variety of plants and gifts.

Plantaholics is open Tuesday to Saturday, 9.30am-4.30pm at the front of Cedar Nursery in Sandy Lane.

For more, visit the shop’s Facebook page: plantaholicsromsey.

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