The Root of Success: Gillette’s Plant Shack celebrating 30 years of business
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The root of success: Gillette’s Plant Shack celebrating 30 years of business
The Plant Shack in Gillette, Wyo., has been open for 30 years. Owner Vickie Knutson credits her family for keeping the store open. The store has gone from a single greenhouse to a 20-by-120-foot under-cover section. A new generation of Knutsons is preparing to join the staff of the Plant Shack, 30 years into the history of the store. The Plant Shack is located in the former Pamida gardening store, which shut down in 2008. The plant store is now located in a former antique store in the town’s downtown area, in the same lot as the Pamida plant store. It is open to the public and is open seven days a week, seven hours a day, seven days per week, depending on the time of the year and the type of plants being sold. It also is open on the weekends, when the store is closed for the holiday season, and during the spring and early summer months, when it is open only on weekdays.
Growing up on a rural Missouri farm, Vickie always had a way with horticulture. Unlike the windswept and dry plains of Wyoming, plants grew aplenty. Coming to Wyoming shortly after being married, then, came with its challenges. 30 years later, she still cites Wyoming weather as the Plant Shack’s biggest challenge.
“When you get beautiful stuff in and then you freeze it in the first week, that’s discouraging,” Vickie said.” You’re just thinking, ‘Why are we doing this?’ But then, the people coming back make it worth it. They’re all like, ‘Don’t quit. You can’t. What will we do? Where will we get our plants?’”
And they may just be right. With most other options for plants being big-box retailers, the Plant Shack has for 30 years been one of the only entities keeping the beautification of Gillette a local endeavor. That local support and the new generations of Knutsons have been the fertilizer keeping the Plant Shack growing.
Vickie may have those same stores to thank for the inception of the Plant Shack, though. Before she got her start as a business owner, she worked for the now defunct Pamida in Gillette as its gardening expert. When Walmart moved to town and Pamida shut down, people didn’t know how they were going to get their plants.
“I had everybody asking me where we’re going to buy our plants,” Vickie said.
Kati Knutson, Vickie’s daughter and fellow Plant Shack horticulturalist, said that having a deeper relationship with the store’s customers is the only reason the store has made it this far.
“If we didn’t have those people to fall back on who were there to support us, it wouldn’t have made it 30 years,” Kati said. (Photo courtesy of Kati Knutson) (Photo courtesy of Kati Knutson)
Friends, neighbors and fellow plant enthusiasts have allowed the Plant Shack to go from a single 20-by-30-foot greenhouse in the lot of a patron’s antique store to having a 20-by–120-foot under-cover section with countless trees, shrubs and other perennials nearby. Simply put, the Plant Shack has seen a lot of growth.
And when it comes time to move things around for the season, it’s been the entire Knutson family keeping things afloat for the Plant Shack. Vickie said that without the help of her five kids, who all spent most of their childhoods darting between vast rows of plants and helping their mom run the store, the Plant Shack most certainly would have struggled.
“They’re part of this greenhouse. When it comes time to put it up, it takes a whole crew and you have to put the racks together and you have to cover it, and then you have to unload semis,” Vickie said. “And so my kids have all been involved in it since they were babies.”
Some of her siblings claim to hate it, but Kati said that growing up around all this greenery instilled a love of plants and the greenhouse in them, even if some show it more than others.
“I grew up here. We had little Pack N Play bassinets by the register when we were kids and every time we were here I would crawl behind the the racks and go pick up flowers and bring little bouquets the front,” Kati said. “I just grew up in it and learned to love it just like my mom did. She kind of instilled that love of green things in me.” (Photo courtesy of Kati Knutson) (Photo courtesy of Kati Knutson) (Photo courtesy of Kati Knutson)
Her close involvement in the Plant Shack continues today. Her mom is the best boss she’s ever had, she said. Now, there is also a new Knutson preparing to join the staff. 30 years into the history of the Plant Shack, Kati’s newborn daughter is here to lend a hand.
“I couldn’t wait until I had my own kids — daughter especially — that I could bring down here and show her the things that I grew up with and things that I loved,” Kati said. “And I’m really excited for her to hopefully grow up and stick around in the greenhouse with us.”
And with the security of knowing that there will always be family close by, Vickie and the Plant Shack have a lot to look forward to throughout the next 30 years. Seeing new and returning faces when gardening season commences and trying out new inventory are always going to be the Knutsons’ favorite part of the job.
“It’s exciting to see that they’re branching out and getting us new stuff. Everybody’s like, “Well, hey, can you get this?” or “Hey, can you get that?” We’ve got two growers that are pretty good at bringing in new stuff every year,” Vickie said. “It’s always fun to see what we can get new.”
“And seeing those returning customers that have been here forever,” Kati added. “We like seeing them every year.”
(Photo courtesy of Kati Knutson)
(Photo courtesy of Kati Knutson)
For more information on the Plant Shack, the services and products it offers and where to find it, see the store’s page on Facebook.