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BUCHANAN — A new business has taken root in downtown Buchanan.

Jessica Ortiz opened Bebop’s Plant Shop last month at 101 Days Ave., Buchanan.

The shop, open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, offers a variety of plants and decor, plant classes, explore events and has a long-term goal of opening a plant café. 

After closing her plant shop in Quad Cities due to her husband’s military assignment in Korea, Ortiz has found a home inside the business incubator. Ortiz specializes in “kokedamas” – a style of potting up plants in a ball of moss and displaying them in a dish or suspended in the air – and brings a curated selection of hardy and unique houseplants to Buchanan.

For Ortiz, her love for horticulture began at an early age inside her mother’s garden. After discovering a terrarium book as a child, she sought to create her own worlds inside glass constructs.

“I really liked being outside as a kid,” she said. “I wanted to bring everything in but my mom hated it because I would bring in worms, crickets, snails. I brought in a praying mantis egg case and it hatched everywhere. I liked creating the little mini worlds inside. There’s something about looking like a far away place but it’s right there.”

Bebop’s Plant Shop is one of four small businesses housed inside 101 Days as part of Live Buchanan’s Hometown & Co. small business incubator.

The building was bought and renovated by the Rowland Property Group, which leased the space to LiveBuchanan. After being accepted into the business incubator, the businesses spend a year learning and growing together with the intention of finding long-term homes for their businesses in Buchanan at the end of the program. LiveBuchanan provides a shared market/retail space, business training, one-on-one coaching  and connection to vital resources to help support these businesses on their journey. Each vendor selected for the program is required to attend trainings, be present during open hours and pay a monthly program fee.

“It’s perfect,” she said. “This seems perfect to start out with. I can still do events, I can still do parties here or at somebody else’s house. This is perfect just to start so I can start to grow.”

“It’s great to have another incoming business that we can foster and support and see where it goes, especially something that a lot of people in town are looking for something a little bit different,” said LiveBuchanan Treasurer Jen Garry. “It’s something that really is going to complement the other things that we already have going on… We’re super excited to have a place for her. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect that she was looking for space and asking about it right when we were, like, trying to see who we were lining up next.”

Ortiz appreciates LiveBuchanan giving her the opportunity to have her business establish roots in Buchanan.

“This meant a lot to me,” she said. “They’ve been so helpful with marketing and sharing, my posts and telling people what’s going on here. It’s been really great. A lot of other businesses have been coming in.”

According to Gerry, the feedback Hometown & Co. has received from the community has been positive.

“We’ve had nothing but good feedback,” Garry said. “It’s been great; a lot of people are asking when the next spot is going to be open or how many more vendors could you support. That’s all good because we want to keep the interest going. We want to look for who will be next, too – that next vendor coming in that we can support and bring in to Buchanan and then keep in Buchanan or wherever their home should be. We’re super excited to have (Bebop’s Plant Shop). It’s the perfect edition.’”