The Plant Lady SF was forced to close after an errant tire rolled through the shop’s window.
Jeannie Psomas, the shop’s owner who’s away on vacation, received a troublesome notification: the security alarm system for her shop went off. Psomas’ friends Asuka Yanai and Evan Hillis quickly made their way to the Ingleside storefront on Ocean Avenue at Faxon to find a car tire lying in the remnants of the shop’s giant plate glass window.
“I am so grateful that no one was in the shop when this happened,” said Sofia Rothschild, a sales associate and stockist. “The damage turned out to be pretty minimal, so we won’t have too much trouble getting the shop back together.”
A motorist, who has since taken full responsibility, was driving down Ocean Avenue when their front tire came loose and rolled into the storefront, Psomas wrote on social media.
After notifying her team, the shop’s employees sprung into action to help deal with the mess. Landlord to the Plant Lady SF and co-owner of Expert Pet, Mike Sorrels, and other neighborhood residents helped clean up the glass and secure the store.
The window hit by the tire had recently been decorated by artist Alyssa Yang, better known as sendoodz on Instagram, for the Ocean Avenue Association’s art and wine walk. Yang and Psomas are in talks to create a new mural for the shop.
“It’s doubly wild that this happened while I was in Japan taking my first real vacation in years but that just goes to show you how incredible the staff has been that we’ve all been able to deal with it and open up for business again after less than a week,” Psomas said.
The shop was closed for several days following the incident as employees assessed the damage and cleaned like pulling glass out of pots and plants. Ocean Avenue Association Ambassador Roland Lee also helped to clear debris from the street and planters in front of the store the next day.
The Plant Lady SF will reopen on Friday, June 14.
“We’re going to have a plywood board kind of indefinitely but that doesn’t mean you can’t come in and shop,” said Cooper Michael, the longtime shopkeeper. “We will be open and we will still have cool things.”
