Entrepreneur puts down roots with Charleston brick-and-mortar store

Rooted in Charleston dug into the community in early 2022, doing pop-up events from a bus across the region.  

Today, Nancy Terebecki-Smith, founder of the plant bus and store, is trading wheels for walls. She added a brick-and-mortar location to her Charleston portfolio. 

Terebecki-Smith said the brick-and-mortar spot found her and she saw it as a challenge. The space was a spa before Rooted and was originally the first pharmacy in Charleston, she said.  

The space is in the Cannonborough-Elliotborough neighborhood, accompanying other local businesses like Paper Canopy, Philosophers and Fools and Charleston Candle Co. 

“I feel like it’s just a hobby and it should be for everybody. There shouldn’t be the barrier of ‘well I don’t have a green thumb.’ Well, a green thumb is not real,” Terebecki-Smith said. “I kill plants. Everybody does. It’s research and development.” 

Rooted’s plants are indoor, steering from landscape and native plants to be “low-care, low-maintenance and beginner friendly,” Terebecki-Smith said. The store also has a few rare plants for more collector-focused plant lovers.  

The plants in Rooted are not propagated by Terebecki-Smith, they are each purchased directly from growers locally and in Florida. 

Having gone to University of North Georgia for history, Terebecki-Smith spent the first part of her life after college going where her husband was stationed across the U.S. She originally took care of plants as a hobby but later said she realized she was good at it and liked the educational element of helping people with plants. 

About a year ago, her husband retired from the military and helps out with deliveries and operations, but there are no employees at the moment. 

“There’s sort of a barrier around some other places and so I always try to say, “DM me, text me, ask away, send me photos, you are not bothering me, I want to help,” Terebecki-Smith said. “So how do I put it into really simple terms and help them understand how to care, too?” 

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One of Terebecki-Smith’s focuses is on a collection of products local women have made, calling it the Women’s Collective. She buys the items wholesale from the artists aiming to focus on begin completely woman-owned and support woman-owned products. 

Opening the Rooted storefront in August of 2024, Terebecki-Smith said the first six months have been difficult, but she is starting to understand how the store works differently than the bus. She said she sees that people who show up to the storefront are usually more “plant people,” whereas people coming to the bus vary. 

The storefront for Rooted in Charleston is located at 232 Ashley Ave. 

“I think a lot of what deters small businesses is they think you have to have a business plan,” Terebecki-Smith said. “Start where you are with what you have. The biggest thing that stops people is the starting part.”