WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. — The displays inside the new greenhouse showroom of an interior landscape design company in suburban Detroit feel more like a botanical garden than a nursery. But at Planterra's new home in West Bloomfield, nearly everything is for sale.
The company aims to mix shopping with the experience of visiting indoor gardens, and by hosting luncheons, weddings and art exhibitions it's on the leading edge of a retailing trend that is turning garden centers into destinations.
"When you walk in here, it doesn't feel like you're in a grocery store or a drug store or a warehouse," said Shane Pliska, Planterra's president. "Most nurseries … it smells like fertilizer when you walk in the door. When you walk in here you don't smell fertilizer. In fact, you walk in here and you're greeted by the sounds of water and typically the freshness of whatever we have in season."
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