New store in downtown St. Joseph sells house plants

ST. JOSEPH — Plant lovers have a new destination in downtown St. Joseph.

Kaiku House Plants + Pop Ups is the latest business venture of Kelsey and Austin Bock, who also own Lumberjax Urban Axe Throwing, A Little Collective and Bound For Freedom.

"Investing new ideas in our own town is something that excites us," Owner Kelsey Bock said.

The store opened earlier this month at 402 State St., the former Fred Upton campaign office. The opportunity to use the space came up quickly, Bock said, so the couple took it.

Kaiku sells house plants, home gardening accessories and other home goods. The area has a lot of great garden stores and florists, she said, but no space dedicated to house plants. She said this gives shoppers some variety and is another attraction in the downtown. Bock said she also hopes to hold classes like terrarium building in the new space.

Kaiku, featuring a wide selection of house plants, opened earlier this month at 402 State St., in downtown St. Joseph.

"Getting people downtown, especially locals, not in the summer, that is the goal," Bock said.

The name "Kaiku" is a Japanese word, which means to grow. Bock grew up in Japan and is half Japanese, so the name was a way to honor her background. A local florist, Terrain Floral, will soon move into the space, and Kaiku will sell grab-and-go bouquets.

The shop also hosts other small businesses for regular pop-up events, who sell items like jewelry and baked goods. Bock said this was their family's way of helping other local entrepreneurs sell their goods, without the costs of a brick-and-mortar location.

"We want people to thrive in their creativity. We want them to go for it," she said.

Grace Blake, who works at Kaiku, said customers have been excited about the new business. Regardless of a visitor's skill with plants, she said Kaiku has options available.

"You can do a snake plant, and that's really simple. Everybody can keep it alive. I can even keep it alive," Blake said. "And then you have people who are really skilled and are great at fiddle leaf figs or (can) keep an orchid alive for a year."

Contact: [email protected], 932-0360, Twitter: @knotjuliana

Staff Writer at The Herald-Palladium

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