Claire Spaulding pops up from behind a table covered in potted plants and makes her way over to the counter, as the sounds of rain and mellow indie music fill the air.
In this space on East Main Street, Claire Spaulding is living her dream with her husband, Jimi. They left their 9-to-5 jobs to start a family business, and Joyfoli Plant Shop is it.
“I’ve always loved plants. Initially, my dream was to open a flower shop, but I am much better with indoor plants than I am blooming plants,” she said. “This is just kind of what developed.”
The couple has three boys, ages 8 to 1. “Our little one is determined to break everything,” Spaulding said with a laugh.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]“We wanted do something where we could include our whole family, like having our kids with us here every day and just doing something that works for us as a family so we could be together. Having our own shop is what we felt fit best.”
Claire and Jimi opened Nashville’s only indoor plant boutique in July. In September, they moved the shop next door into the old state bank building when the space opened up.
The shop’s tagline is “Plant happiness.”
“By sharing our love of plants, we hope that our customers will be inspired to find what brings them joy,” Spaulding said.
Customers are welcome to come in for a free cup of coffee from Five Lakes Coffee of Sturgis, Michigan, and browse the greenery.
The shop offers a variety of houseplants, from tropical to succulents to cacti. There’s a plant for all “green thumb” abilities, a press release for the shop states. All of their plants come from a greenhouse in the Midwest.
Spaulding is happy to help customers find the right plant for them.
Joyfoli Plant Shop also features gifts from local artisans, like Brown County Soap Company, and block print T-shirts by Harvest Goose, a company owned by Brown County resident Kara Hammes.
“Involving the community, and especially local artists, is really important to us. One thing that we really focus on, like when we were deciding what to have in the store, was to have things that are made locally or come from small artisans,” Spaulding said.
“That’s really our focus. It’s not about mass-produced cute things — it’s fun things, but also it being supporting the little guy. That’s a really big thing.”
The shop also has macramé planters for sale, which are a top seller. They also sell books, jewelry and other small gifts.
The couple drives an hour from their home in Brownsburg to their shop in Nashville.
“We love the community of Nashville and the feel that there is here. It just has the right vibe and that’s what drew us here,” Spaulding said.
“We’ve gotten a really warm welcome from the community. Everybody has just been really welcoming and really excited. They’ve had nothing but kind things to say about the shop, so that’s been really nice to be well received. … When we moved spaces, we even had people volunteer to help us come paint. Those are people we haven’t know for more than a few weeks, so that was really awesome.”
When not working at the shop, Jimi Spaulding works in pest control and Claire Spaulding recently started an early-morning shift at FedEx.
”We just juggle the shop hours depending who is available. It’s just us working (in the shop),” she said.
“Being our first year, it’s hard to depend on that when you’re raising a family. We’re definitely putting in more hours, but it’s worth it.”
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Location: 76 1/2 E. Main St. in the old state bank building
Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays; noon to 5 p.m. Sundays
Online: JoyfoliPlantShop on Instagram and Facebook. Check Facebook for changes to shop hours.
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