"Kid of the fields", son of landscapers, Maxime Thévénon launched Hanko Jungle in June.
This online store is the first to have offered boxes of "rare and original" indoor plants.
Success was not long in coming.
The young man, who drew his inspiration from Japan, sells nearly 500 each month.
And sometimes up to 1,500.
In his apartment on Place Sathonay in Lyon, more than 300 plants.
“A little jungle”, as he summarizes with a smile.
A “personal collection” of which he takes the greatest care.
And that's nothing compared to the ones he keeps in his studio.
Between 800 and 1,000 on average.
Sometimes up to 4,000.
Seven months ago, Maxime Thévenon launched Hankō Jungle Therapy, an online store.
The first in France to have offered monthly indoor plant boxes.
Since then, the success has not been denied.
The concept is simple: three different “rare and original baby plants” sold for 29 euros.
Each month, a different theme inspired by Japanese traditions or French events (Pink October, Valentine's Day, Christmas).
Inside the 100% recyclable and handmade box, a care sheet and an extra little gift like bonsai maple seeds or Amaryllis bulbs.
“Therapeutic” dimension of plants
It was during a trip to the Land of the Rising Sun that Maxime drew his first inspirations and discovered the "therapeutic dimension" of plants.
“There is a striking contrast there.
People live in megalopolises but are in total connection with nature.
They have wonderful gardens.
They put plants and spiritualism among their priorities.
This appealed to me a lot.
»
The second trigger will be containment. Photographer and graphic designer by training, Maxime had undertaken a reconversion in the entrepreneurship of shows. Concerts, precisely. But with the arrival of the coronavirus epidemic, its activities were “put on stand-by”. “Everything was on hold. We found ourselves enclosed between four walls, deprived of a certain form of freedom,” he says. So this adopted Lyonnais will fully immerse himself in his passion: indoor plants. At home, he “makes more and more cuttings”, exchanges his advice on forums and social networks. Because the man knows a lot about it.
"Kid of the fields", son of landscape gardeners, Maxime Thévenon "has already been growing small plants" for fifteen years.
"Hands in the earth" from a very young age, he experiments, grows seeds found during walks.
Explore constantly.
Feeds his reflection on "the needs that people might have on indoor plants".
“That's how the idea was born to democratize access to rare and original plants that you won't find in local garden centers,” he explains.
The opening of a store during the year
The following ? He decides to make his first boxes and contact a few influencers to get people talking about him. The success is dazzling. “To my great surprise, everyone played the game. It generated enormous enthusiasm,” he confesses. The 120 to 140 units, offered for the first time last June, sell out in “less than two weeks”. Today, it sells on average "three times more" each month. But can go up to 1,500, in case of high demand.
In his workshop, monsteras, philodendrons, calatheas or alocasia of all kinds grow peacefully, pampered, cared for.
These plants come from “quality” Dutch, German or Italian suppliers.
“In the spring, we will start cutting our mother plants to sell them to individuals.
In the meantime, we are working with these gardeners.
Here, we maintain the plants, we continue to raise them so that they acclimatize perfectly inside our apartments, ”he continues.
Hankō Jungle Therapy, which currently employs three employees, could quickly expand.
Maxime aims to recruit two other employees by the end of the year, and to open his first store.
“Probably in the 1st arrondissement or in Croix-Rousse, the two neighborhoods in which I lived,” he concludes with a smile.
Lyons
Lyon: Camélia, the urban garden center that wishes you well
Planet
Global warming: How seawater temperature determines the evolution of photosynthesis
start-up
Lyons
Environment
plants
Planet
0 comment
0 share
Share on Messenger
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Flipboard
Share on Pinterest
Share on Linkedin
Send by Mail
To safeguard
A fault ?
To print