Rewild co-owner Joe Ressler knows the answer he should give when asked why he decided to open a boutique focusing on houseplants (that he’s always loved plants and had a green thumb from birth). But the truth is, he was a horticultural novice when he and his business partners, Lily Cox and Kyle Cannon, opened their first store in 2018 in D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood.
“From a business standpoint, it just seemed like a great niche where we could be really educational and passionate about something, and plants are so aesthetically appealing,” says Ressler, whose company will open a second Rewild in Ballston Quarter this fall. “Now I’m actually a very avid houseplant enthusiast. I probably have 25-ish plants in my own home. So I turned into one of our customers, but it took some effort.”
Ressler says he and his colleagues started eyeing Arlington when a good portion of the clientele at their Georgetown pop-up, which ended this summer, seemed to be coming from south of the river. “We tend to attract a lot of Virginia customers, and it’s always been a little bit outside of our delivery range,” he says. “Ballston’s just such a great part of Virginia. It’s close to Clarendon, it’s got its own little community and is very central.”
The Ballston shop will offer all the same amenities that Shaw customers rely on, including a 90-day guarantee on all plants, free repotting services and a built-in support group for budding botanists that includes a blog and YouTube tutorials. The new store will also allow the owners to expand their delivery range significantly.
Plants range in price from $5 to $1,500, with large, rare plants on the more expensive end.
“Our business is very simple, you know? We just sell nice plants and nice pots, and we pot them and give you good advice,” says Ressler. “A little bit of information goes a long way with houseplant ownership.”