Exotic Planterium and Card & Comic Collectorama

***All of the pictures from this post were found on the internet except for the picture of my plant, I do not go into people's stores and take random pictures of them...I would only do that in China.

If you want to go to a very, very strange shop, go to the Exotic Planterium and Card & Comic Collectorama in Del Ray, Alexandria.  I'm not really sure if it is a hidden gem or just an out-of-place shop in a trendy little neighborhood.

The store basically consists of so many random piles of comic books and other memorabilia that you can barely walk around, open doors, etc. It also has a small collection of plants by the window in the front. I went there for the plants, but it's hard to ignore the rest of the store.

The plants did not seem very exotic, but maybe that was because they were so small. Personally, when I think of an exotic plant, what comes to mind is something very large that is growing uncontrollably, like a force us folk accustomed to non-exotic plants can't manage.

However, I did see one plant that caught my eye--at 3 inches tall it towered above the other plants and it didn't look like grass (like some of the other exotic plants did).  The storeowner, a very, very old man, was peering at Zach and I from around a stack of comic books, so I inquired about the price. He picked up the little plant ever so gently, and told me that it was not ready for sale, and that we should come back in a few weeks. 

Not ready for sale?! I wouldn't be surprised if the storeowner went days with out selling one piece of merchandise, I couldn't believe that he wouldn't sell it. He wanted to make sure that the plant was rooted well and that it was growing nicely before passing it along. I don't think he trusts anyone but himself to bring this baby plant into the world.

So that was fine, but I went back again yesterday to buy the little plant, exactly one month after first trying to buy it, and he told me that it still wasn't ready to sell, although several other people had inquired about the plant too, which he seemed proud of. Now I know for sure that this guy is a kook.

But... a very friendly kook who clearly likes his plants and wants them to be well taken care of, even when "business has been slow lately". I ended up choosing 3 other small plants and while he seemed reluctant to let at least one of them go, he consented. I am so grateful he let me purchase his plants :)

on the windowsill of my office where the owner should be happy to
know they are getting plenty of light. i am happy with my little plants.

The kicker was when he rang up my total--he gave me too much change back. In 99.9% of cases I would say tough luck to the seller but there was no way I could take money from the Exotic Planterium. He pulled out the receipt from a decrepit cash register and it definitely was reporting the change due back incorrectly, so we figured it out in our heads. He was very grateful I pointed out the problem so he could be aware of it for future sales. I wonder how much revenue he has been losing due to his faulty cash register, in addition to his refusal to sell merchandise. 

I looked the store up on Yelp and people's opinions were overwhelmingly polarized, with one reviewer going as far to say that it was "One of my favorite places on the planet...it's the most incredible retail store in the United States", and another saying "The elderly man behind the counter and the condition of the store made me wonder whether his mother's desiccated corpse was propped up in a back room like in "Psycho.""

I plan on going back to buy another plant if these 3 work out, although I don't know if I'd go as far to say that the shop is my favorite place on earth. I won't stop going until I at least get that plant he refused to sell me. So 3+ plants later, I guess his weird sales tactics have more than been effective on me. I'm invested now. Plus in some weird way...I feel like he deserves my plant money. What a hard-working old man :)

storefront and owner

So, come join me in my quest to get the exotic plant at the Exotic Planterium!