Hi Fiona! Please tell everyone a bit about yourself and introduce your shop to our readers.
“Rooted” is a botanical emporium specialising in indoor plants and botanic based items and beautiful things to enhance life. Rooted also loves to feature the carefully curated and selected work of local artisans. This is the place to come if you need plant advice and help selecting the right plants for your space. I’ve always had a love of plants indoors and outdoors and how they can transform and bring life to a place. I sold houseplants at farmer’s markets, pop-ups, events and in carefully chosen shops and cafes for four years before opening “Rooted” a year ago.
What was it that made you start your own business, what is your inspiration?
Gardening is in the blood and my mother always had plants in the house and spent a lot of time gardening. The first thing I did when I got my first place was to go out and buy some houseplants. Living in Scotland, I had itchy fingers over winter when there was no outdoor gardening to do and started to increase my indoor plant collection so that I could enjoy greenery in the house too. At the time, there was very limited selection of houseplants and I had been considering a career change so decided that trialling and sourcing new and beautiful houseplants and bringing them to the people would be my mission.
Where about in Scotland are you located, and what’s it like in your community? Are there many other small businesses nearby?
My shop is located in the Rosemount area of Aberdeen. It is a fabulous area of independent, small businesses ranging from a gourmet cheese shop (Gourmet Cheese Co), a specialist wool shop (Wool for ewe), a gift and card shop (Cloudy Blue) to the best coffee in shop in Scotland 2019 (The Cult of Coffee) as well as award winning beauticians.
What type of products do you sell in your shop, and do you have any unique offerings that you would like to share?
The main focus of the shop is houseplants but I stock a wonderful range of beautiful ceramic planters by local artisans to perfectly compliment the plants. I also stock a range of natural skincare, candles, sea tea and lots of other original items to enhance life. I have run terrarium, kokedama and “Happy Houseplant” workshops pre-covid but for now focus on giving lots of tips on plant care on Instagram.
What’s next for your business? Do you have any exciting plans or changes in place, now that Scotland is gradually opening up again?
I’m always on the look out for the work of local artisans whose work I think would fit in with the aesthetics of the shop. I’m also working on a book with local Aberdeen photographer, Sam Brill which we had to put on hold during covid so finding a publisher is next on the list.
Do you have a certain criteria when sourcing the wonderful products that you stock in your shop?
All the items I stock are things that I would have or use in my home. I love carefully crafted items that please me to look at and things that you wouldn’t necessarily find in a large shop. I like to work with other carefully chosen small businesses and prefer natural products whose origins are clear.
Are the items in your shop also available to buy online and if so where do you deliver to?
I originally didn’t plan to sell online but set up the “Click & Collect” website when I had to close the shop due to covid. I extended that to offer delivery to Aberdeen City & Shire. There are so many places that ship plants but I prefer the personal touch where people can choose their own plants with some personal advice if needed so shipping plants is not something I will do but I’m still tweaking things and would love to extend the website to be able to offer shipping internationally of the other items that I stock in the shop.
Please share more about the area that you are based, what would you recommend seeing and doing to people visiting?
There are so many wonderful National Trust properties in the area and I love visiting the gardens especially. I also love taking my dogs to the beach and swimming in the sea and there are some stunning and not overly touristy beaches north of Aberdeen. My favourite beach walk is the Sands of Forvie and on to Hackley Bay.
WHERE CAN WE FIND OUT MORE?
