Paige Briscoe
Audio By Carbonatix
On December 13, Paige Brisco, the owner of ReRoot Gardens, took to Instagram to share a heartfelt and tearful announcement that she would be closing the plant shop at 1218 34th Street on December 31 after six years of business.
“When I first started things six years ago, I went in with open expectations,” Brisco says. “I dove headfirst into it without doing a ton of research.”
While ReRoot survived the pandemic and earned loyal regulars through classes and workshops, Brisco says the work and energy required to pull it all off took a toll on her mental health and personal life.
“I’ve gotten to a point where I’m so over having to sacrifice so much and put everything else before myself,” she says. “Running a business is really hard. It always felt like I was just scraping by. It never felt like everything was in balance.”
While money and debt make up the primary reason for Brisco’s decision, she emphasizes that she is also setting personal boundaries and building a healthier life. Even with a good landlord and an active community following, the day-to-day of keeping ReRoot alive is not in Brisco’s best interest, she says.
“The thing about business ownership and retail, especially, is you are so vulnerable and there’s not a lot of wiggle room. The hustle of having to devote all your energy, all your time, extra resources to your business is normal because it’s your business and you want to do it to a point,” says Brisco. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t stop.”
ReRoot has been a haven for plant lovers.
Courtesy of Paige Brisco
This beautiful plant-filled space in RiNo has been home to workshops, classes, frogs and flower arrangements, making quite an impression on Denver’s many plant fanatics. “Truthfully, I probably should have closed two years ago, but I didn’t because I love our community,” Brisco admits. “I think people in Denver really want to support small business – at least the local community does.”
Any plant lovers know that finding a good local plant shop can be a game-changer for your home menagerie and lead to important relationships of exchanging planting tips. Despite the love and community surrounding ReRoot, a difficult year in 2023 and an even more complex year in 2024 have pushed Brisco to pursue a change of pace. Reflecting on her journey with ReRoot, she says she’s taking time to decide what she wants to do next, balancing herself and her career with more intention. In this age of massive corporations and ongoing identity crises, many are asking themselves the very same questions.
“I think we’re waking up to the fact that, ‘I need to be appreciated for my work,’ so we just start our own business. I’m at the next stage, where this doesn’t serve me anymore and I’m ready to move on,” she says.
But Brisco is quick to note that the bigger concept of ReRoot Gardens is far from over. Plant shower bundles, workshops and soil will still be available online, among many other things to come. In these final days of the physical shop, be sure to stop by: Brisco and the team are selling everything from plants to shop furniture.
“If you’re going to start a small business, make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons,” says Brisco. “Asking for help right away is super important. The system isn’t necessarily set up for the little guys to win. There’s not a ton of help or resources. My heart goes out to people who have started businesses from passion.”
