Indoor plants, zines, and jars filled with herbs line the walls of this new small business in Ypsilanti.
Bloodroot Herb Shop, founded by Corinne Denomme and Alex Rae Crofoot, stands as a testament to the duo’s lifelong dreams of fostering a resilient and joyful community space centered around the power of herbs, education, and holistic well-being.
The store offers more than 45 quality bulk herbs primarily sourced from local organic farmers, an extensive zine lounge with vintage seating, pregnancy and children’s herbals, small-batch herbal extracts and skin care products, house and medicinal plants, teas, and more. In the near future, the shop also plans to offer various educational classes and courses, community events, and herbal outreach services.
While the shop opened its doors on July 29, its grand opening is set to take place from 2-6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26 with a raffle, botanical mocktails, mini astrology readings, and a fundraiser for the store’s free community food fridge.
For Crofoot, the journey toward the store, which is located at 208 W. Michigan Ave., was rooted in a childhood aspiration to own a herb shop. After studying botanical medicine at the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine in upstate New York and Lindera Herbal Intensive in White Lake, Michigan, Crofoot’s path included becoming a full-spectrum doula, opening an organic herb farm called Black Lotus Gardens in Dexter, and providing herbal care to underserved populations.
Later, Crofoot worked with the homeless community, starting a project called Community Care Camper, a 13-foot trailer stocked full of herbal supplies that offers mobile herbal care. The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst, reigniting her passion for a gathering space that could provide herbal education, consultations, and products.
“I had a baby, was on a farm alone, and just kept wondering where the community was, where I could do these services, and where there was support for postpartum parents,” Crofoot says. “We had bought the lumber to build a small herb shop/farm stand on the farm, but I decided not to because it felt really inaccessible to a large population of people. I wanted to be somewhere central to bring services that are dear to my heart. Through a bunch of life changes, I had started being in Ypsilanti in 2022 and knew that’s where I wanted to be.”
In the fall of 2022, Crofoot posted to social media in search of a business partner with like-minded goals.
She quickly found her “kindred spirit business partner” in Denomme, who was raised by a midwife, has become a passionate “folk medicine maker,” and found herself in alignment with Crofoot’s vision. Denomme’s years of practicing and teaching nature connection, community building, and herbalism made her a perfect partner to join forces with.
“For too long I have had the same recurring conversations about the systematically designed lack of enrichment in our society, how we ache for togetherness and wish we had stronger support systems for a joyful life. I began to entertain the possibility of a more permanent location where I could be interacting regularly in person, interlocking the world of herbs, nature, and our relationship landscapes together,” Denomme said in a statement. “When Alex put out that call looking for someone to partner with for a community space, I immediately answered. Everything said ‘yes.’ Bloodroot Herb Shop is the perfect convergence of two lifelong dreams, woven with the broader collective desire for a space to commune among our circles.”
The project is still in its early stages, but the owners say that the process has been surprisingly swift with ultimate synchronicity that has allowed the work to feel natural despite stressors.
“One of my favorite compliments we’ve gotten so far is someone saying our shop looks like a home rather than a shop at all,” Crofoot says. “It’s very cozy and welcoming, with hand-picked antique furnishings like a purple upholstered fainting couch in the zine lounge, a children’s play zone, and bundles of dried plant decor strewn about everywhere.”
Looking forward, the pair has many goals for Bloodroot Herb Shop, with hopes of being an overall community resource for Ypsilanti.
“Always at the forefront, we want to support a resilient community that co-creates a safe, joyful, educational space for individuals and families to belong,” Denomme says. “We dream of one day developing into a tea cafe, integrating the mobile free herb clinic, expanding our herbal outreach services, and offering an extensive herb school curriculum.”
In an effort to be accessible to everyone, the shop currently offers sliding-scale pricing on select herbal products and health consultations. There is also a “free” table full of zines, art, clothing, etc., for anyone to contribute to and benefit from. Denomme and Crofoot hope to soon make additions of a free community food fridge, free or donation-based class days, and accessible herbal aid to locals in need.
“These services are important everywhere, but we really felt at home offering them here in Ypsilanti. This town is unique in how the majority of businesses and residents here are so community-action-oriented,” Crofoot says. “Actualizing our own gathering space and services here feels welcomed and aligned.”
As the pair sees herbal healing through a community resource lens, their hope is to make it more accessible and help empower people through personalized healthy living choices.
“With the abundant landscapes in and around Ypsi, we’d like to bridge connections with these green spaces through education on local flora and herbalism,” Denomme says. “Our intention is to help others feel inspired to co-create with their ecosystems and build resilient communities that prioritize care for themselves, each other, and the land that holds us.”
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