GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK FOR INTERIORSCAPES BY THE PLANT MARKET
Who:
Sharon Lavin, president and owner
What:
Interiorscapes by The Plant Market
Where:
5600 W. North Ave., Milwaukee
When:
Established in 1975
Green is the new black — for everyone except Sharon Lavin and Interiorscapes by The Plant Market. For Lavin, it is and always has been all about green.
The company provides interior landscaping and maintenance services for commercial clients ranging from hospitals and residential campuses to hotels, business offices and more. The installation and care of individual green plants, multi-plant containers, live plant walls and extensive holiday displays are just some of Interiorscapes’ specialties. It also provides artificial installations so true to life that clients have watered them by mistake.
“Plants are beautiful to look at but they also have work to do,” Lavin says. “They remove carbon dioxide from the air and increase the oxygen. Research shows that live plants also help reduce stress, enhance mood, increase productivity, and even contribute to shorter hospital stays and the amount of pain medications that hospitalized patients need.”
“Plants humanize space, relax people and make them feel more comfortable.”
— Sharon Lavin
The building for Interiorscapes is also environmentally green. The 9,200-square-foot structure uses solar energy and collects rainwater from its roof for watering plants. It sends plant matter it can no longer use to Compost Crusaders for composting.
Many of the company’s employees worked off-site before the pandemic, and still do. The workforce includes installation teams, service technicians, designers, fabricators, administrative staff and holiday staff.
Forty-six years after starting Interiorscapes, Lavin believes in the power of plants now more than ever. She has performed every job at the company and still lights up upon seeing the planters she once tended at the Pfister Hotel — the same ones that also appear in century-old photographs.
“When I decided to start the company, I knew I would love working with plants and that it would blur the line between work and play,” she said. “I still like to go on busman’s holidays — vacationing in places with tropical environments and botanical gardens.”
Lavin launched the business for other reasons besides her love for and knowledge of plants. She wanted to be self-employed, the initial investment was minimal, and she knew the concept and services would appeal to clients.
Coming soon …
Luke Struve, the vice president of Interiorscapes, is currently transitioning into the role of owner.
“We are all connected to other living things,” she said. “People had healing gardens thousands of years ago. Today, plants humanize space, relax people and make them feel more comfortable. We know it’s very important to include the natural environment in the built environment. It enhances value, not just intuitively but also financially.”
In recent years, Lavin hasn’t needed to explain the value of natural beauty to new clients. Customers find the company on their own and through referrals from architects and interior designers. Clients feel so strongly about the value of their greenery that in the early days of the pandemic when buildings became ghost towns, they tended the plants until Interiorscapes employees could safely return to care for them.
Once the state’s stay-at-home pandemic order was lifted late last spring, Interiorscapes shifted into a new gear. It has had to work around shortages caused by transportation and supply chain challenges. Although business was impacted, demand for beautiful plants remains high. Fortunately, the nature of the company’s work and work spaces have meant that employees can safely distance.
Another thing Interiorscapes has going for it is its location.
“Being in the center of Milwaukee is fabulous,” Lavin said. “For anyone who has to get to a lot of places in southeastern Wisconsin, it’s wonderful, and it’s convenient for employees. We can easily get to a large number of metro area clients in 10 minutes.”
Lavin also likes the area for personal reasons.
“It’s got great architecture and it’s familiar,” she said. “I can see the home where my mother grew up from my office.”
The location has also worked for Interiorscapes’ celebrated used plant sales. The sales used to generate long lines at the company’s North Avenue location. They have now been moved to Facebook, include curbside pickup, and remain as popular as ever.
Looking ahead to the short term, Lavin said the Interiorscapes holiday team will soon be focused on planning and logistics for things like 24-foot Christmas trees and mechanical lifts for hanging thousands of holiday lights. The company rents a nearby 5,000-square foot building for holiday installations. Its seasonal workforce includes former employees and people like a physical therapist and forester, who sometimes work into the night to magically transform client’s spaces.
In the longer term, Lavin and partner Joe Neuman are gradually transitioning ownership of the business to Luke Struve, the vice president of Interiorscapes.
“Joe and I plan to be involved for a long time,” Lavin said. “I’m just one of many employees who have worked with us for 30 years or more.”
Photos by Rob Gustafson, co-owner, Vennture Brew Co.
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