Bolingbrook's Sacred Succulent Store Is Illinois' First Plant Bar

BOLINGBROOK, IL — Inspired by the love for succulents that his online customers displayed, Thomas Stice, owner and founder of The Sacred Succulents, decided to open his first store in Bolingbrook. Located at The Promenade Bolingbrook, the shop is expected to open its doors first week of July.

"I started selling succulents, cacti and tropical plants online and realized that there were no stores in our area that carry rare, hard to find plants," Stice said. "Millennials are buying more plants now than ever before and the serious collector is really limited with what they can get around here."

He said his goal is to bring exotic plants from all over the world to a local, convenient location.

"Besides the fact that the plants you find here are unobtainable anywhere else around us, we’ve also put a spin on your typical plant shop," he said. We are Illinois' first Plant Bar. This is a place where you can go, pick out your extravagant plants, pick a planter and pot it up right then and there. We’ll be there to assist with the aesthetic or to help pair plants to create completely unique arrangements."

Those above the age of 21 can also grab a drink while potting their plants.

Stice said the store currently has plants from Indonesia, China, Italy, Thailand, the Ukraine, Mexico, Ecuador, Africa, Guam and Hawaii. Despite the looming uncertainties related to the pandemic, he said plants brings joy to everyone.

"They clean the air, they’re beautiful to look at and in general make people happy," he said. "I think our concept is so unique and the products we offer are so exotic that I have a lot of faith we will stay busy even during the pandemic."

Stice started The Sacred Succulent last October out of his garage in Bolingbrook, selling exclusively online to a customer base almost entirely on Facebook. With the push and encouragement from his family "we came up with this Plant Bar concept that was totally unique and definitely 'us,'" he said, "and jumped in head first and are throwing everything we have into this store."

Converting a one-man online store to a multi-employee brick and mortar establishment is challenging, and he said several adjustments including financial and organizational have to happen in order to ensure success.

"I'm learning every day that I can't do it all and leaning on my family, who will be running the business with me, is absolutely essential," he said.

Stice said the store will be a place to "get away from it all."

"We are sourcing locally made art to display, have a completely immersive tropical room that will transport you to the rainforests of South America, massive living sculptures made of plants and some of the most bizarre plants you’ve ever seen," he said. "It is a store built with an overflowing passion and love for plants and art and it shows in everything we do."